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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/calvinismsixstOOkuyp 


^W  w  met, 


JUN  10  1924 


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FIRST  LECTURE. 


CALVINISM   IN    HISTORY. 

A  traveller  from  the  old  European  Continent,  disembark-, 
ing  on  the  shore  of  this  New  World,  feels  as  the  Psalmist 
says,  "his  thoughts  crowd  upon  him  like  a  multitude". 
Compared  with  the  eddying  waters  of  this  new  stream  of 
life,  the  old  stream,  in  which  he  has  moved  seems,  almost 
frostbound  and  dull;  and  while  at  home  the  stealing  phan- 
tom of  approaching  Social  Death  now  and  then  made  him 
shiver  for  the  horrors  of  the  future,  here  the  rippling  and 
sparkling  waves  around  him  speak  of  an  everhigher  develop- 
ment of  human  life  to  come.  Here,  on  American  ground, 
he  catches  at  once  the  magic  spirit  of  Longfellow's  "Ex- 
celsior". Here,  for  the  first  time,  he  realizes  how  so  many 
divine  potencies,  hidden  away  in  the  bosom  of  mankind 
from  our  very  creation,  but  which  our  old  world  was  in- 
capable of  developing,  are  now  beginning  to  disclose  their 
inward  splendour,  thus  promising  a  still  richer  store  of 
surprises  for  the  Future. 

Not  that  you  would  ask  me  to  forget  the  superiority 
which,  in  many  respects,  the  Old  World  may  still  claim, 
in  your  eyes,  as  well  as  in  mine. 

Old  Europe  remains  even  now  the  bearer  of  a  longer 
historical  past,  and  therefore  stand-  before  you  as  a  deeper 


CALVJNISM  in  history. 


rooted  tree,  hiding  between  its  leaves  the  more  matured 
fruits  of  life.  In  one  word,  you  are  yet  in  your  Springtide, 
— we  are  passing  through  our  Fall; — and  the  harvest  of 
Autumn  has  an  enchantment  of  its  own. 

But,  although,  on  the  other  hand,  I  fully  acknowledge 
your  privilege  that  (to  use  another  simile)  the  train  of 
life  travels  with  you  so  immeasureably  faster  than  with 
us, — leaving  us  miles  and  miles  behind, — still  we  both  feel 
that  there  is  not  a  separate  life  in  Old  Europe  and  another 
here,  but  that  it  is  one  and  the  same  current  of  human 
existence  that  rolls  through  both  continents; — a  vast  unin- 
terrupted tide,  which  entered  Europe  from  Asia,  then  passed 
from  Europe  to  America,  and  is  now  further  developing 
itself  in  this  New  World,  ever  moving  westward. 

By  virtue  of  our  common  origin  you  may  call  us  bone 
of  your  bone, — we  feel  that  you  are  flesh  of  our  flesh,  and 
although  you  are  outstripping  us  in  the  most  discouraging 
way,  you  will  never  forget  that  the  historic  cradle  of 
3rour  wondrous  youth  stood  in  our  old  Europe,  and  was 
rocked  most  gently  in  my  once  so  mighty  Fatherland. 

Moreover,  besides  this  common  parentage,  there  is  an- 
other factor  which,  in  the  face  of  even  a  wider  difference, 
would  continue  to  unite  your  interests  and  ours.  Far 
more  precious  to  us,  even  than  the  development  of  human 
life,  is  the  crown  which  ennobles  it,  and  this  noble  crown 
of  life  for  you  and  for  me  rests  in  the  Christian  name. 
That  crown  is  our  common  heritage,  and  under  the  glory 
of  that  crown  we  are  and  feel  united,  in  the  closest  and 
most  holy  brotherhood.  It  was  not  from  Greece  or  Rome 
that  the  regeneration  of  human  life  came  forth;— that 
mighty  metamorphosis  dates  from  Bethlehem  and  Golgotha; 
and  if  the  Reformation,  in  a  still  more  special  sense,  claims 
the  love  of  our  hearts,  it  is  because  it  has  dispelled  the 
clouds  of  sacerdotalism,  and  has  unveiled  again  to  fullest 
view  the  glories  of  the  cross.  But,  in  deadly  opposition 
to  this  Christian  element,  against  this  very  Christian  name, 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  3 


and  against  its  salutiferous  influence  in  every  sphere  of 
life,  has  now  arisen,  with  such  a  violent  intensity,  the 
storm  of  Modernism.    . 

In  1789  the  turning  point  was  reached. 

Voltaire's  mad  cry  "Ecrasez  Pinfame"  aimed  at  Christ 
himself,  and  this  cry  it  was  that  gave  utterance  to  the 
most  hidden  thought  from  which  the  French  Revolution 
sprang.  The  fanatic  outcry  of  another  philosopher  -'We 
no  more  need  a  God'',  and  the  odious  shibboleth  "No  God, 
no  Master",  of  the  Convention, — these  were  the  sacrilegi- 
ous watchwords  which  at  that  time  heralded  the  liberation 
of  man  as  an  emancipation  from  all  Divine  Authority. 
And  if,  in  His  impenetrable  Wisdom,  God  employed  that 
revolution  as  a  means  by  which  to  overthrow  the  tyranny 
of  the  Bourbons,  and  to  bring  a  judgment  on  the  princes 
who  abused  His  nations  as  their  footstool,  nevertheless 
the  principle  of  that  Revolution  remains  thoroughly  anti- 
christian,  and  has  since  eaten  its  way  like  a  cancer,  dis- 
solving and  undermining  all  that  stood  firm  and  consistent 
before  our  Christian  faith. 

This  anti-Christian  power  has  since  been  strengthened  ' 
by  the  richness  of  forms  in  which  German  Modernism  un- 
folded itself,  thereby  rendering  Pantheism  so  generally  ac- 
ceptable that  in  Darwin's  evolution — theory  its  idea  of  an 
uninterrupted  process  has  been  hailed  as  the  physiological 
basis  of  every  existing  thing.  And  what  is  still  more 
lamentable,  even  in  the  church  of  Christ  itself  this  poison- 
ous toxin  has  forced  an  entrance,  and  under  cover  of  a 
pious  mysticism  or  in  the  garment  of  historic  clearness, 
has  attacked,  first  the  sacredness  of  the  church,  after  that 
the  Holy  Scripture,  and  at  last  even  the  holy  person  of 
our  Lord  and  Savior,  Jesus  Christ.  No  doubt  therefore 
but  that  Christianity  is  emperilled  by  great  and  serious 
dangers.  Two  world-views  are  wrestling  one  with  another, 
in  mortal  combat.  Modernism  is  bound  to  build  a  world 
of  its  own  from  the  data  of  the  natural  man,  and  to  con- 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY. 


struct  man  himself  from  the  data  of  nature,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  all  those  who  reverently  bend  the  knee  to 
Christ  and  worship  Him  as  the  Son  of  the  Living  God 
are  bent  upon  saving  the  "Christian  Heritage"  for  the 
world  at  large,  confident,  by  this  heritage,  to  lead  her  up 
to  a  still  higher  development.  This  is  the  struggle  in  Eu- 
rope, this  is  the  struggle  in  America,  and  this  also,  is  the 
struggle  for  principles,  in  which  my  own  country  is  enga- 
ged, and  in  which  I  myself  have  exhausted  for  nearly 
forty  years  every  energy  at  my  disposal. 

In  this  struggle  Apologetics  have  advanced  us  no  single 
step.  Apologetics  have  invariably  begun  by  abandoning 
the  assailed  breastwork,  in  order  to  entrench  themselves 
in  a  ravelin  behind  it. 

Therefore,  from  the  first,  I  have  always  said  to  myself: 
—"If  the  battle  is  to  lie  fought  with  honour  and  with  a 
hope  of  victory,  then  principle  must  be  arrayed  against 
principle ;  then  it  must  be  felt  that  in  Modernism  the  vast 
energy  of  an  all-embracing  principle  assails  us,  and  then 
it  must  be  understood  that  we  have  to  take  our  stand  in 
a  principle  of  equally  comprehensive  and  far-reaching  power. 
And  this  powerful  principle  is  not  to  lie  invented  nor 
formulated  by  ourselves,  but  it  is  to  be  taken  and  applied 
as  it  presents  itself  in  life,  with  its  roots  in  the  past,  and 
its  branches  spread  over  our  present  existence.  It  will 
not  do  therefore  to  say  that  this  principle  is  Christianity 
itself.  Such  a  general  principle,  taken  in  an  absolute  sense, 
necessarily  remains  a  pure  abstraction,  and  only  in  its  his- 
torical, its  farthest,  and  its  purest  revelation  can  it  supply 
us  with  the  needed  vigor  for  resistance; — and  when  thus 
taken,  I  found  and  confessed,  and  I  still  hold,  that  this 
manifestation  of  the  Christian  principle  is  given  us  in  Cal- 
vinism. ^  In  Calvinism  has  my  heart  found  rest.  From 
Calvinism  have  I  drawn  the  inspiration,  firmly  and  resolu- 
tely to  take  my  stand  in  the  thick  of  this  great  conflict 
of  principles.     And  therefore,  when  I  was  invited  to  give 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY. 


the  Stone  Lectures  here  this  year,  I  could  not  hesitate  a 
moment  as  to  my  choice  of  subject.  Calvinism,  as  the 
only  decisive,  lawful,  and  consistent  defence  for  Protestant 
nations  against  encroaching,  and  overwhelming  Modernism, 
— this  of  itself  was  bound  to  be  my  theme.  Not  that  my 
personal  experience  can  be  of  interest  to  you,  but  because 
it  is  the  same  conflict  which  engages  you  here,  and  us  in 
Europe,  and  because  in  such  an  universal  struggle,  the 
more  a  testimony  is  based  upon  personal  experience,  the 
higher  its  significance,  and  the  richer  its  value. 

Allow  me  therefore,  in  six  lectures,  to  speak  to  you  on 
Calvinism.  First  on  Calvinism  in  History,  that  we  may 
clearly  understand  what  Calvinism  is.  Then  on  Calvinism 
and  Religion.  Again  on  Calvinism  as  a  political  phenomen- 
on;— After  that  on  Calvinism  as  a  social  force,  first  in 
Science,  and  then  in  Art.  And,  finally,  on  the  hope  which 
in  Calvinism,  is  laid  away  for  the  Future. 


Clearness  of  presentation  demands  that  in  this  first  lec- 
ture I  begin  by  fixing  the  conception  of  Calvinism  historically. 
To  prevent  misunderstanding  we  must  first  know  what  we 
should  not,  and  what  we  should,  understand  by  it.  Start- 
ing therefore  from  the  current  use  of  the  term.  I  find  that 
this  is  by  no  means  the  same  in  different  countries  and 
spheres  of  life.  The  name  Calvinist  is  used  in  our  times 
most  generally  as  a  sectarian  name;  this  is  not  the  case  in 
Protestant,  but  in  Romish  countries,  especially  in  Hungary 
and  France.  In  Hungary  the  Reformed  Churches  have  a 
membership  of  some  two  and  one-half  millions,  and  in  both 
the  Romish  and  Jewish  press  her  members  are  constantly 
stigmatized  by  the  non-official  name  of  "Calvinists".  A 
derisive  name  applied  even  to  those  who  have  divested 
themselves  of  all  traces  of  sympathy  with  the  taith  of  their 
fathers.  The  same  phenomenon  presents  itself  in  France, 
especially  in   the    Southern    parts,    where    „Calviniste"    is 


CALVINISM   IN   HISTORY. 


equally,  and  even  more  emphatically  a  sectarian  stigma,  which 
does  not  refer  to  the  faith  or  confession  of  the  stigmatized 
person,  but  is  simply  put  upon  every  communicant  of  the 
Reformed  Churches,  even  though  he  be  an  atheist.  George 
Thiebaud,  known  for  his  anti-semitic  propaganda,  has  at 
the  same  time  revived  the  anti-Calvinistic  spirit  in  France, 
and  even  in  the  Dreyfus  case  "Jews  and  Calvinists"  were 
arraigned  by  him  as  the  two  anti-national  forces  as  prejudi- 
cial to  the  ''esprit  gaulois".  This  sectarian  use  of  the 
name  "Calvinist"  is  derived  from  the  Romish  polemists, 
who  from  the  beginning  were  accustomed  to  attack  by  this 
ominous  term  what  seemed  to  them  the  most  dangerous 
form  of  Protestantism.  This  first  significance  however  of 
the  name  "Calvinist"  is  of  no  importance  whatsoever  for 
the  understanding  and  appreciation  of  Calvinism,  because 
it  is  purely  external,  and  independent  of  all  spiritual  con- 
fession. —  Directly  opposed  to  this  is  the  second  use 
of  the  word  Calvinism,  and  this  I  call  the  confessional  use. 
In  this  sense  a  Calvinist  is  represented  exclusively  as  the 
outspoken  subscriber  to  the  dogma  of  fore -ordination.  They 
who  disapprove  of  this  strong  attachment  to  the  doctrine 
of-  predestination  cooperate  with  the  Romish  polemist,  in 
that  by  calling  you  "Calvinist"  they  represent  you  as  a 
victim  of  dogmatic  narrowness  and  what  is  worse  still  as 
being  dangerous  to  the  real  seriousness  of  moral  life.  On 
the  other  hand  there  are  theologians,  who  from  fulness 
of  conviction  are  open  defenders  of  Predestination,  and 
who  count  it  their  honor  to  be  Calvinists,  but  who  are  so 
impressed  with  the  disfavor  attached  to  the  "Calvinistic 
name",  that  for  the  sake  of  commending  their  conviction, 
they  prefer  to  speak  rather  of  Augustinianism  than  of  Cal- 
vinism. This  is  what  Hodge  did— whose  studies  I  so  deeply 
appreciate.  —  The  ecclesiastical  title  of  some  Baptists  and 
Methodists  indicates  a  third  use  of  the  name  Calvinist.  No 
less  a  man  than  Spurgeon  belonged  to  a  class  of  Baptists 
who  in  England  call  themselves  "Calvinistic  Baptists",  and 


CALVINISM    IX    HI-. 


the  Whitfield  Methodists  in  Wales  to  this  day  bear  the  name 
of  "Calvinistic  Methodists".  Thus  here  also  it  indicates  a 
confessional  difference,  but  is  applied  as  the  name  for  special 
church-denominations.  Without  doubt  this  practice  would 
have  been  most  severely  criticized  by  Calvin  himself.  During 
his  life-time  no  Reformed  Church  ever  dreamed  of  naming 
the  Church  of  Christ  after  any  man.     The  Lutherans  have 

done  this,  the  Reformed  Churches  never But  beyond 

this  sectarian,  confessional,  and  ecclesiastical  use  of  the 
name  "Calvinist",  it  serves  moreover  as  a  scientific  term, 
either  in  an  historical,  philosophical  or  political  sense.  His- 
torically the  name  of  Calvinism  indicates  the  channel  in 
which  the  Reformation  moved,  so  far  as  it  was  neither 
Lutheran,  Anabaptist  nor  Socinian.  In  the  philosophical 
sense  we  understand  by  it  that  system  of  conceptions,  which 
under  the  influence  of  the  master-mind  of  Calvin  raised 
itself  to  dominance  in  the  several  spheres  of  life.  And  as  a 
political  name  Calvinism  indicates  that  political  movement 
which  has  guaranteed  the  liberty  of  nations  in  constitutional 
statesmanship;  first  in  Holland;  then  in  England;  and 
since  the  close  of  the  last  century  in  the  United  States.  In 
this  scientific  sense  the  name  of  Calvinism  is  especially 
current  among  German  scholars.  And  the  fact  that  this 
not  only  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  are  themselve>  ol 
Calvinistic  sympathies,  but  that  also  scholars  who  have 
abandoned  every  confessional  standard  of  Christianity  never- 
theless assign  this  profound  significance  to  Calvinism,  appears 
from  the  testimony  borne  by  three  of  our  best  men  of 
science,  the  first  of  whom,  Dr.  Robbert  Fruin  declares  that: 
"Calvinism  came  into  the  Netherlands  consisting  of  a 
logical  system  of  Divinity,  of  a  democratic  Church-order  of 
its  own,  impelled  by  a  severely-moral  sense,  and  as  enthu- 
siastic for  the  moral  as  for  the  religious  reformation  of 
mankind".  Another  historian,  who  was  even  more  out- 
spoken in  his  rationalistic  sympathies  writes:  "Calvinism  is 
the    highest  form  of  development  reached  by  the  religious 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  8 

and  political  principle  in  the  16th  century".  And  a  third 
authority  acknowledges  that  Calvinism  has  liberated  Swit- 
zerland, the  Netherlands  and  England,  and  in  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  has  provided  the  impulse  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
United  States And  only  in  this  last-named,  strictly- 
scientific  sense  do  I  desire  to  speak  to  you  on  Calvinism  as  an 
independent  general  tendenc}r,  which  from  a  motherprinciple 
of  its  own  has  developed  an  independent  form  both  for  our 
life  and  for  our  thought  among  the  nations  of  Western  Europe 
and  North  America,  and  at  present  even  in  Southern  Africa. 
The  domain  of  Calvinism  is  indeed  far  broader  than  the 
narrow  confessional  interpretation  would  lead  us  to  suppose. 
The  aversion  to  naming  the  Church  after  a  man  gave  rise  to 
the  fact,  that  though  in  France  the  Protestants  were  called 
"  Huguenots  ",  in  the  Netherlands  "  Beggars",  in  Great  Britain 
"Puritans"  and  "Presbyterians",  and  in  North  America 
"Pilgrim  Fathers",  yet  all  these  products  of  the  reformation 
which  on  3rour  contiuent  and  ours  bore  the  special  Re- 
formed type  ....  were  of  Calvinistic  origin.  But  the  extent 
of  the  Calvinistic  domain  should  not  be  limited  to  these 
purer  revelations.  Nobody  applies  such  an  exclusive  rule  to 
Christianit}r.  Within  its  boundaries  we  embrace  not  only 
Western  Europe,  but  also  Russia,  the  Balkan  States,  the 
Armenians,  and  even  Menelik's  empire  in  Abyssinia.  Therefore 
it  is  but  just  that  in  the  same  way  we  should  include  in 
the  Calvinistic  fold  those  churches  also  which  have  diverged 
more  or  less  from  its  purer  forms.  In  her  39  articles  the 
Church  of  England  is  strictly  Calvinistic,  even  though  in 
her  Hierarchy  and  Liturgy  she  has  abandoned  the  straight 
paths,  and  has  met  with  the  serious  results  of  this  depar- 
ture in  Pusyism  and  Ritualism.  The  confession  of  the  In- 
dependents was  equally  Calvinistic,  even  though  in  their 
conception  of  the  Church,  the  organic  structure  was  broken 
by  individualism.  And  if  under  the  leadership  of  Wesley 
most  Methodists  became  opposed  to  the  theological  inter- 
pretation   of   Calvinism,    it    is    nevertheless  the  Calvinistic 


CALVINISM   IN"    HISTORY. 


spirit  itself  that  created  this  spiritual  reaction  against  the 
petrifying  church-life  of  the  times.  In  a  given  sense  there- 
fore it  may  be  said,  that  the  entire  field  which  in  the 
end  was  covered  by  the  Reformation,  so  far  as  it  was  not 
Lutheran  and  not  Socinian,  was  dominated  in  principle  by 
Calvinism.  Even  the  Baptists  applied  for  shelter  at  the 
tents  of  the  Calvinists.  It  is  the  free  character  of  Calvinism 
that  accounts  for  the  rise  of  these  several  shades  and  dif- 
ferences, and  of  the  reactions  against  their  excesses.  By 
its  hierarchy  Romanism  is  and  remains  uniform.  Luther- 
anism  owes  its  similar  unity  and  uniformity  to  the  ascend- 
ency of  the  prince,  whose  relation  to  the  Church  is  that 
of  "summus  episcopus"  and  to  its  "ecclesia  docens".  Cal- 
vinism on  the  other  hand,  which  sanctions  no  ecclesiastical 
hierarchy,  and  no  magisterial  interference,  could  not  develop 
itself  except  in  many  and  varied  forms  and  deviations, 
thereby  of  course  incurring  the  clanger  of  degeneration, 
provoking  in  its  turn  all  kind  of  one-sided  reactions.  With 
the  free  development  of  life,  such  as  was  intended  by 
Calvinism,  the  distinction  could  not  fail  to  appear  between 
a  centrum,  with  its  fulness  and  purity  of  vitality  and  strength, 
and  the  broad  circumference  with  its  threatening  declen- 
sions. But  in  that  very  conflict  between  a  pure  and  less 
pure  development  the  steady  working  of  its  spirit  was 
guaranteed  to  Calvinism. 

Thus  understood  Calvinism  is  rooted  in  a  form  of  religion 
which  was  peculiarly  its  own,  and  from  this  specific  reli- 
gious consciousness  there  was  developed  first  a  peculiar 
theology,  then  a  special  church-order,  and  then  a  given  form 
for  political  and  social  life,  for  the  interpretation  of  the 
moral  world-order,  for  the  relation  between  nature  and 
grace,  between  Christianity  and  the  world,  between  church 
and  state,  and  finally  for  art  and  science,  and  amid  all 
these  life-utterances  it  remained  always  the  self-same  Cal- 
vinism, in  so  far  as  simultaneouly  and  spontaneousl}'  all 
these    developments    sprang   from  its  deepest  life-principle. 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  lO 

Hence  to  this  extent  it  stands  in  line  with  those  other 
great  complexes  of  human  life,  kwown  as  Paganism,  Islamism, 
Romanism  and  Protestantism,  by  which  we  distinguish  four 
entirely  different  worlds  in  the  one  collective  world  of  human 
life.  And  if  strictly  considered  you  should  coordinate  Chris- 
tianity and  not  Protestantism  with  Paganism  and  Islamism, 
it  is  nevertheless  better  to  place  Calvinism  in  line  with  them, 
because  Calvinism  claims  to  embody  the  Christian  idea  more 
purel}T  and  accurately  than  could  Romanism  and  Lutheranism. 
In  the  Creek  world  of  Russia  and  the  Balkan  States  the 
national  element  is  still  dominant,  and  therefore  the  Christian 
faith  in  these  counties  has  not  been  able  to  produce  a  form 
of  life  of  its  own  from  the  root  of  its  nrystical  orthodoxy. 
In  Lutheran  countries  the  interference  of  the  magistrate  has 
prevented  the  free  working  of  the  spiritual  principle.  Hence 
of  Romanism  only  can  it  be  said,  that  it  has  embodied  its 
life-thought  in  a  world  of  conceptions  and  utterances  entirely 
its  own.  But  by  the  side  of  Romanism,  and  in  opposition 
to  it,  Calvinism  made  its  appearance,  not  merely  to  create 
a  different  Church-form,  but  an  entirely  different  form  for 
human  life,  to  furnish  human  societ}r  with  a  different 
method  of  existence,  and  to  populate  the  world  of  the 
human  heart  with  different  ideals  and  conceptions. 

That  this  had  not  been  realised  until  our  time,  and  is 
now  acknowledged  by  friend  and  enemy  in  consequence  of 
a  better  study  of  history,  should  not  surprise  us.  This  would 
not  have  been  the  case,  if  Calvinism  had  entered  life  as  a 
well-constructed  system,  and  had  presented  itself  as  an 
outcome  of  study.  But  its  origin  came  about  in  an  en- 
tirely different  way.  In  the  order  of  existence  life  is  first. 
And  to  Calvinism  life  itself  was  ever  the  first  object 
of  its  endeavours.  There  was  too  much  to  do  and  to 
suffer  to  devote  much  time  to  study.  What  was  domi- 
nant was  Calvinistic  practice  at  the  stake  and  in  the  field 
of  battle.  Moreover  the  nations  among  whom  Calvinism 
gained  the  day,— such  as  the  Swiss,  the  Dutch,  the  English 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  11 


and  the  Scotch— were  by  nature  not  very  philosophically 
predisposed.  Especially  at  that  time  life  among  those  nations 
was  spontaneous  and  void  of  calculation,  and  only  later 
on  has  Calvinism  in  its  parts  become  a  subject  of  that 
special  study  by  which  historians  and  theologians  have 
traced  the  relation  between  Calvinistic  phenomena  and  the 
all-embracing  unity  of  its  principle.  It  can  even  be  said 
that  the  need  of  a  theoretic  and  systematic  study  of  so 
incisive  and  comprehensive  a  phenomenon  of  life,  only 
arises,  when  its  first  vitality  has  been  exhausted,  and  when 
for  the  sake  of  maintaining  itself  in  the  future  it  is  com- 
pelled to  greater  accuracy  in  the  drawing  of  its  boundary- 
lines.  And  if  to  this  you  add  the  fact  that  the  stress  of 
reflecting  our  existence  in  the  mirror  of  our  consciousness 
with  unity  of  image  is  far  stronger  in  our  philosophical 
age  than  it  ever  was  before,  it  is  readily  seen  that  both 
the  needs  of  the  present,  and  the  care  for  the  future,  com- 
pel us  to  a  deeper  stud)-  of  Calvinism.  In  the  Romish 
Church  everybody  knows  what  he  lives  for,  because  with 
clear  consciousness  he  enjoys  the  fruit  of  Rome's  interpre- 
tation of  life.  Even  in  Islam  you  find  the  same  power  of 
a  conviction  of  life  dominated  by  one  principle.  Protestant- 
ism alone  wanders  about  in  the  wilderness  without  aim  or 
direction,  moving  hither  and  thither,  without  making  any 
progress.  This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  among  Protestant 
nations  Pantheism,  born  from  the  New  German  Philosophy 
and  owing  its  concrete  evolution-form  to  Darwin,  claims 
for  itself  more  and  more  the  supremacy  in  every  sphere 
of  human  life,  even  in  that  of  theolog}7,  and  under  all 
sorts  of  names  tries  to  overthrow  our  Christian  traditions, 
and  is  bent  even  upon  exchanging  the  heritage  of  our  fathers 
for  a  hopeless  modern  Buddhism.  The  leading  thoughts, 
that  had  their  rise  in  the  French  Revolution  at  the  close 
of  the  last,  and  in  German  philosophy  in  the  course  of  the 
present  century,  form  together  a  world-  and  life-view  which 
is    diametrically    opposed    to    that    of  our    fathers.    Their 


CALVINISM   IN    HISTORY.  12 


struggles  were  for  the  sake  of  the  glory  of  God  and  a 
purified  Christianity,  the  present  movement  wages  war  for 
the  sake  of  the  glory  of  man,  being  inspired  not  by  the  humble 
mind  of  Golgotha  but  by  the  pride  of  Humanism.  And 
why  did  we,  Christians,  stand  so  weak,  in  the  face  of  this 
Modernism?  Why  did  wre  constantly  lose  ground?  Simply 
because  we  were  devoid  of  an  ecmal  unity  of  life-conception, 
such  as  alone  could  enable  us  with  irresistible  energy  to 
rebuff  the  enemy  at  the  frontier.  This  unity  of  life-conception 
however  is  never  to  be  found  in  a  vague  conception  of 
Protestantism  winding  itself  as  it  does  in  all  kind  of  tor- 
tuosities but  you  do  find  it  in  that  mighty  historic  process, 
which  as  Calvinism  dug  a  channel  of  its  own  for  the  power- 
ful stream  of  its  life.  By  this  unity  of  conception  alone 
as  given  in  Calvinism,  you  in  America  and  wTe  in  Europe, 
might  be  enabled  once  again  to  take  our  stand,  by  the  side 
of  Romanism,  in  opposition  to  modern  Pantheism.  Without 
this  unity  of  starting-point  and  historic  interpretation  of 
life  the  power  must  fail  us  to  maintain  our  independent 
position,  and  our  strength  for  insistence  ebb  away. 


The  supreme  interest  here  at  stake  however  forbids  our 
accepting  without  more  positive  proof  the  fact  that  Cal- 
vinism really  provides  us  with  such  an  unit}^  of  life-con- 
ception, and  that  Calvinism  is  not  a  partial  nor  was  a 
merely  temporary  phenomenon,  but  is  an  all-embracing 
system  of  principles,  such  as  rooted  in  the  past,  is  able 
to  strengthen  us  in  the  present  and  to  fill  us  with  confi- 
dence for  the  future.  Hence  we  must  first  ask  what  are 
the  required  conditions  for  such  general  systems  of  life,  as 
Paganism,  Tslamism,  Romanism  and  Modernism,  and  then 
show  that  Calvinism  really  fulfills  these  conditions. 

These  conditions  demand  in  the  first  place  that  from  a 
special  principle  a  peculiar  insight  should  arise  into  the 
three  fundamental  relations  of  all  human  life;  viz.,    l.our 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  13 


relation  to  God  2.  our  relation  to  man,  and  3.  our  relation 
to  the  world. 

Hence  the  first  claim  demands :  that  such  an  action  shall 
find  its  starting-point  in  a  special  interpretation  of  our 
relation  to  God.  This  is  not  accidental  but  imperative.  If 
such  an  action  is  to  put  its  impress  upon  our  entire  life, 
it  must  go  out  from  that  point  in  our  consciousness,  in 
which  our  life  is  still  undivided  and  lies  comprehended  in 
its  unity,  —  not  in  the  spreading  vines  but  in  the  root  from 
which  the  vines  spring.  This  point  of  course  lies  in  the 
antithesis  between  all  that  is  finite  in  our  human  life  and 
the  infinite  that  lies  beyond  its  Here  alone  we  find  the 
common  source  from  which  the  different  streams  of  our 
human  life  spring  and  separate  themselves.  Personally  it 
is  our  repeated  experience  that  in  the  depths  of  our  hearts, 
at  the  point  where  we  disclose  ourselves  to  the  Eternal 
One,  all  the  rays  of  our  life  converge  as  in  one  focus,  and 
there  alone  regain  that  harmony  which  we  so  often  and  so 
painfully  lose  in  the  stress  of  daily  duty.  In  prayer  lies  not 
only  our  unity  with  God,  but  also  the  unity  of  our  personal 
life.  Movements  in  history  therefore  which  do  not  spring 
from  this  deepest  source  are  always  partial  and  transient, 
and  only  those  historical  acts,  which  arose  from  these 
deepest  depths  of  man's  personal  existence  embrace  the 
whole  of  life  and  possess  the  required  permanence. 

This  was  the  case  with  Paganism,  which  in  its  most 
general  form  is  known  by  the  fact,  that  it  surmises, 
assumes  and  worships  God  in  the  creature.  This  applies  to 
lowest  Animism,  as  well  as  to  highest  Buddhism.  Paganism 
does  not  rise  to  the  conception  of  the  independent  existence 
of  a  God  beyond  and  above  the  creature.  But  even  in  this 
imperfect  form  it  has  for  its  starting-point  a  definite  inter- 
pretation of  the  relation  of  the  infinite  to  the  finite,  and  to  this 
it  owed  its  power  to  produce  a  finished  form  for  human 
society.  Simply  because  it  possessed  this  significant  starting- 
point  was    it    able   to   produce  a  form  of  its  own  for  the 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY.  14 


whole  of  human  life.  It  is  the  same  with  Islamism.  which 
is  characterized  by  its  purely  anti-paganistic  ideal  cutting 
off  all  contact  between  the  creature  and  God.  Mohammed 
and  the  Koran  are  the  historic  names,  but  in  its  nature 
the  Crescent  is  only  the  absolute  antithesis  to  Paganism. 
Islam  isolates  God  from  the  creature,  in  order  to  avoid 
all  commingling  with  the  creature.  As  antipode  Islam  was 
possessed  of  an  equally  far-reaching  tendenc\',  and  was 
also  able  to  originate  an  entirely  peculiar  world  of  human 
life.  The  same  is  the  case  with  Romanism.  Here  also  the 
papal  tiara,  the  hierarchy,  the  mass,  etc.,  are  but  the  out- 
come of  one  fundamental  thought:  viz.,  that  God  enters 
into  fellowship  with  the  creature  by  means  of  a  mystic 
middle-link  which  is  the  Church ;  not  taken  as  a  mystic 
organism,  but  as  a  visible,  palpable  and  tangible  institute. 
Here  the  Church  stands  between  God  and  the  world,  and 
so  far  as  it  was  able  to  adopt  the  world  and  to  inspire 
it,  Romanism  also  created  a  form  of  its  own  for  human 
society.  And  now  by  the  side  of  and  over  against  these 
three,  Calvinism  takes  its  stand  with  a  fundamental  thought 
which  is  equally  profound.  It  does  not  seek  God  in  the 
creature,  as  Paganism ;  it  does  not  isolate  God  from  the 
creature,  as  Islamism ;  it  posits  no  mediate  communion  be- 
tween God  and  the  creature,  as  does  Romanism ;  but 
proclaims  the  exalted  thought  that  although  standing  in 
high  majesty  above  the  creature  God  enters  into  immediate 
fellowship  with  the  creature  by  means  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 
This  is  even  the  heart  and  kernel  of  the  Calvinistic  con- 
fession of  predestination.  There  is  communion  with  God. 
but  only  in  entire  accord  with  his  counsel  of  peace  from 
all  eternity.  Thus  there  is  no  grace,  but  such  as  comes  to 
us  immediately  from  God.  At  every  moment  of  our  exist- 
ence our  entire  spiritual  life  rests  in  God  Himself.  The 
Deo  Soli  Gloria  was  not  the  starting-point  but  the  result, 
and  predestination  was  inexorably  maintained  not  for  the 
sake    of  separating   man  from  man,  nor  in  the  interest  of 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY.  15 


personal  pride,  but  in  order  to  guarantee  from  eternity  to 
eternity  a  direct  and  immediate  communion  with  the  Liv- 
ing God.  The  opposition  against  Rome  aimed  therefore 
with  the  Calvinist  first  of  all  at  the  dismissal  of  a  church, 
which  placed  itself  between  the  soul  and  God.  The  church 
consisted  not  in  an  office,  nor  in  an  independent  institute, 
the  believers  themselves  were  the  Church,  in  as  much  as 
by  faith  they  stood  in  touch  with  the  Almighty.  Thus  as 
in  Paganism,  Islamism  and  Romanism,  so  also  in  Calvinism 
is  found  that  proper,  definite  interpretation  of  the  funda- 
mental relation  of  man  to  God,  required  as  the  first  con- 
dition of  a  real  life-system,  that  shall  be  able  to  create  a 
form  of  its  own  for  our  human  life. 

Meanwhile  I  anticipate  two  objections.  In  the  first  place 
it  may  be  asked:  whether  I  do  not  claim  honors  for  Cal- 
vinism which  belong  to  Protestantism  in  general.  To  this 
I  reply  in  the  negative.  When  I  claim  the  honor  for 
Calvinism  of  having  reestablished  the  direct  fellowship 
with  God,  I  do  not  undervalue  the  general  significance  of 
Protestantism.  In  the  Protestant  domain,  taken  in  the 
historic  sense,  Lutheranism  alone  stands  b}r  the  side  of 
Calvinism.  Now  I  wish  to  be  second  to  none  in  my  praises 
of  Luther's  heroic  initiative.  In  his  heart,  rather  than  in 
the  heart  of  Calvin,  was  the  bitter  conflict  fought  which 
led  to  the  world  historic  breach.  Luther  can  be  interpreted 
without  Calvin,  but  not  Calvin  without  Luther.  To  a  great 
extent  Calvin  entered  upon  the  harvest  of  what  the  hero  of 
Wittenberg  had  sown  in  and  outside  Germany.  But  when  the 
question  is  put  who  had  the  clearest  insight  into  the  refor- 
matory principle,  worked  it  out  most  fully,  and  applied  it 
most  broadly,  history  points  to  the  Reformer  of  Geneva  and 
not  to  the  hero  of  Wittenberg.  Luther  as  well  as  Calvin 
contended  for  a  direct  fellowship  with  God,  but  he  took  it 
up  from  its  subjective,  anthropological  side,  and  not  from  its 
objective,  theological  side  as  Calvin  did.  Luther's  starting- 
point  was  the  special-soteriological  principle  of  a  justifying 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  16 

faith :  while  Calvin's  extending  far  wider,  lay  in  the  general 
cosmological  principle  of  the  sovereignty  of  God.  As  a 
natural  result  of  this  Luther  also  restored  the  Church  as 
the  representative  and  authoritative  '•teacher"  between 
God  and  the  believer,  while  Calvin  was  the  first  to  seek 
the  Church  in  the  believers  themselves.  As  far  as  he  was 
able  Luther  still  leaned  upon  the  Romish  view  of  the 
sacraments,  and  upon  the  Romish  cultus,  while  Calvin  was 
the  first  in  both  to  draw  the  line  which  extended  imme- 
diately from  God  to  man  and  from  man  to  God.  Moreover 
in  all  Lutheran  countries  the  Reformation  originated  from 
the  princes  rather  than  from  the  people,  and  thereby 
passed  under  the  power  of  the  magistrate,  who  took  his 
stand  in  the  Church  officially  as  her  "summus  episcopus", 
and  therefore  was  unable  to  change  either  the  social  or  the 
political  life  in  accordance  with  its  principle.  Lutheranism 
restricted  itself  to  an  exclusively  ecclesiastical  and  theolo- 
gical character,  while  Calvinism  put  its  impress  in  and 
outside  the  church  upon  every  department  of  human  life. 
Hence  Lutheranism  is  nowhere  spoken  of  as  the  creator  of 
a  peculiar  life-form;  even  the  name  of  "  Lutheranism"  is  now 
rarely  mentioned;  while  the  students  of  history  with 
increasing  unanimity  recognize  Calvinism  as  the  creator  of 
a  world  of  human  life  entirely  its  own.  And  if  for  this 
reason  "  Lutheranism "  is  of  no  account  to  us  here,  the  general 
conception  of  "Protestantism"  as  such  is  of  still  less 
significance,  because  this  indicates  merely  a  negative  idea, 
and  is  now  valued  most  highly  in  those  deviating  circles 
in  which  the  breach  with  our  reformatory  confession  has 
become  a  final  one. 

The  second  question  which  may  be  put  by  way  of 
objection  is:  If  it  is  true  that  every  general  development- 
form  of  life  must  find  its  starting-point  in  a  peculiar 
interpretation  of  our  relation  to  God,— how  then  do  you 
explain  the  fact,  that  Modernism  has  led  to  such  a  general 
conception,  although  it  sprang  from  the  French  Revolution 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  17 


which    broke    with  all  religion  on  principle.     The  question 
answers  itself.  By  excluding  all  reckoning  with  the  Living 
God  from  your  conceptions  and  practice,  such  as  is  implied  in 
the   cry:  "no   God  no  master",  you  certainly  bring  to  the 
front  an  interpretation  of  your  own  for  our  relation  to  God. 
A  government  that  recalls  its  ambassador  and  breaks  every 
relation    with    another    power,   declares    thereby    that    its 
relation  to   the  government  of  that  country  is  a  strained 
relation,    which    generally   ends   in  war.     This  is  the  case 
here.     The    leaders    of  the   French    Revolution,    not  being 
acquainted   with    any   relation   to   God   except  that  which 
existed    through    the    mediation    of    the    Komish    Church 
annihilated    all   relation    to   God,    because   they  wished  to 
annihilate    the    power  of  the   Church;   and  as  a  result  of 
this   they  declared  war  against  every  religious  confession. 
But  this   of  course  very  really  implied  a  fundamental  and 
special   interpretation   of  our  relation  to  God.     It  was  the 
declaration  that   henceforth   God  was  to   be  considered  as 
dead,    if   not    yet  to   the  heart,   at   least  to   the  state,  to 
society  and  to  science.     To  be  sure  in  passing  from  French 
into  German  hands,  Modernism  could  not  rest  content  with 
such  a  bare  negation,  but  the  result  shows  how  from  that 
moment  it  clothed  itself  in  either  pantheism  or  agnosticism, 
and   under   each   disguise   it  maintained  the    expulsion   of 
God  from  practical  and  theoretical  life.     The  effect  worked 
upon    our   life    by    our  relation   to   God  is  of  the  highest 
importance    to    our    processes    of   thought,    and    both    by 
Pantheism  and  Agnosticism  this  precious  element  is  reduced 
to  nothing.     All  that  is  conceived  and  established  by  man 
under  the  inspiration  of  these  two  philosophical  tendencies 
rests   exclusively  on   the  human   factor,    and    is  unable  to 
rise  above  the  low  level  of  Humanism. 

Thus  I  maintain  that  the  conception  of  our  relation  to 
God  is  the  fundamental  interpretation  which  dominates 
every  general  development-form  of  human  life,  and  that 
for  us  this  conception  is  given  in  Calvinism,  thanks  to  its 


CALVINISM   IN   HISTORY.  18 


fundamental   interpretation   of  an   immediate  fellowship  of 
God   with   man  and  man   with   God.     To   this  I  add  that 
Calvinism   has   neither   invented  nor  conceived  this  funda- 
mental interpretation,   but   that  God   himself  implanted  it 
in  the  hearts  of  its  heroes  and  its  heralds.    We  face  here 
no   product   of  a   clever  intellectualism,  but  the  fruit  of  a 
work    of  God    in   the  heart,  or,  if  you  like,  an  inspiration 
of  history.     This   point  should  be  emphasized.     Calvinism 
has   never  burned  its  incense  upon  the  altar  of  genius,    it 
has     erected    no    monument    for    its    heroes,    it    scarcely 
calls  them  by  name.    One  stone  only  in  a  wall  at  Geneva 
remains   to    remind  one    of  Calvin.     His   very    grave    has 
been  forgotten.     Was  this  ingratitude?  By  no  means.  But 
if  Calvin   was   appreciated,    already    in    the   16th  and  17"1 
centuries    the    impression     was    vivid    that    it    was    One 
greaterthan  Calvin,   even   God   Himself,    who  had  wrought 
here  His  work.     Hence  no  general  movement  in  life  is  so 
devoid  of  deliberate  compact  and  conventionality  of  radiation 
as   this.     Simultaneously  Calvinism  had  its  rise  in  all   the 
countries  of  Western  Europe,  and  it  appeared,  among  those 
nations    not    because    the    university    was    in   its    van,   or 
because    scholars    led    the    people,  or  because  a  magistrate 
placed  himself  at  their  head,  but  it  sprang  from  the  hearts  of 
the   people  themselves:    with    weavers   and  farmers,  with 
tradesmen  and  servants,  with  women  and  young  maidens ; 
and  in  every  instance  it  exhibited  the  same  characteristic:  viz., 
strong  Assurance  of  faith  not  only  without  the  intervention 
of  the  Church,  but  even   in  opposition  to  the  Church.     The 
human  heart  had  attained  unto  eternal  peace  with  its  God; 
strengthened  by  this  Divine  fellowship,  it  discovered  its  high 
and  holy   calling,    to    consecrate   every    department   of  life 
and  every  energy  at  its  disposal  to  the  glory  of  God;  and 
therefore    when    those    men  or    women,    who    had  become 
partakers  of  this  Divine  life,  were  forced  to  abandon  their 
taith,  it  proved  impossible,  they  could  not  deny  their  Lord 
and  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  burned  at  the  stake, 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY.  19 


not  complaining  but  exulting,  with  thanksgiving  in  their 
hearts  and  psalms  upon  their  lips.  Calvin  was  not  the 
author  of  this,  but  God  Who  through  his  Hoi}'  Spirit  had 
wrought  in  Calvin  that  which  He  had  wrought  in  them. 
Calvin  stood  not  above  them,  but  as  a  brother  by  their 
side,  a  sharer  with  them  of  God's  blessing.  In  this  way 
Calvinism  came  to  its  fundamental  interpretation  of  an 
immediate  fellowship  with  God,  not  because  Calvin  inven- 
ted it,  but  because  in  this  immediate  fellowship  God 
Himself  had  granted  to  our  fathers  a  privilege,  of  which 
Calvin  was  the  first  to  become  clearly  conscious.  This 
is  the  great  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  history,  by  which 
Calvinism  has  been  consecrated,  and  which  interprets  to  us 
its  wondrous  energ}-. 

There  are  times  in  history  when   the  pulse  of  religious 
life    beats   faintly;    and    there    are   times  when  its  beat  is 
bounding,  and  the  latter  was  the  case  in  the  16th  century 
among  the    nations   of  Western   Europe.     At  the  close  of 
the    middle    ages   the    question    of  faith    dominated  every 
activity   in  public   life.     New   history  starts  out  from  this 
faith,   even    as  the   history   of  our   times   starts   from  the 
unbelief  of  the   French  Revolution.     What  law  this  pulse- 
like   movement  of  religious  life  obeys,  we  cannot  tell,  but 
it    is    evident  that  there  is  such  a  law,  and  that  in  times 
of  high  religious  tension  the  inworking  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon    the    heart   is    irresistible.     The    apostle    refers    to  it 
when   he    speaks   of  a    divine    force    which    is    quick    and 
powerful  and   sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing 
even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the 
joints  and  marrow,  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents 
of  the  heart.     And  this  mighty  inworking  of  God  was  the 
experience  of  our  Calvinists,  Puritans  and  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
It   was  not  in  all  individuals  to  the  same  degree,  for  this 
never   happens    in    any    great    movement,    but   they    who 
formed   the   centre  of  life   in  those   times,    who  were  the 
promoters   of  that  mighty  change,   they  experienced   this 


•-* 


CALVINISM   IN    HISTORY.  20 


higher  power  to  the  fullest :  and  they  were  the  men  and 
women  of  every  class  of  society  and  nationality  who  by 
God  Himself  were  admitted  into  communion  with  the 
majesty  of  His  eternal  Being.  Thanks  to  this  work  of  God 
in  the  heart  the  persuasion  that  the  whole  of  a  mans  life 
is  to  be  lived  as  in  the  Divine  Presence  has  become  the 
fundamental  thought  of  Calvinism.  By  this  decisive  idea, 
or  rather  by  this  mighty  fact,  it  has  allowed  itself  to  be 
controlled  in  every  department  of  its  entire  domain.  It  is 
from  this  mother-thought  that  the  all-embracing  life-view 
of  Calvinism  sprang. 


This  brings  us  of  itself  to  the  second  condition,  with 
which,  for  the  sake  of  creating  a  special  form  for  human 
life  every  profound  movement  has  to  comply:  viz.,  a  fun- 
damental interpretation  of  its  own  touching  the  relation  of 
man  to  man.  How  we  stand  toward  God  is  the  first,  and 
how  we  stand  toward  man  is  the  second  principal  question, 
which  decides  the  tendency  and  the  construction  of  our 
life.  There  is  no  uniformity  among  men,  but  endless  multi- 
formity. In  creation  itself  the  difference  has  been  established 
between  woman  and  man.  Physical  and  spiritual  gifts  and 
talents  cause  one  person  to  differ  from  the  other.  Past 
generations  and  our  own  personal  life  create  distinctions. 
The  social  position  of  the  rich  and  poor  also  differs.  These 
differences  may  be  weakened  or  accentuated  by  our  inter- 
pretation of  life,  and  Paganism  and  Islamism,  Romanism 
as  well  as  Modernism,  and  so  also  Calvinism  have  all 
taken  their  stand  in  this  question  in  accordance  with  their 
primordial  principle,  If  as  Paganism  contends,  God  dwells 
in  the  creature,  divine  superiority  is  exhibited  in  what- 
ever is  high  among  men.  In  this  way  it  got  its  demi- 
gods, hero-worship,  and  finally  its  sacrifices  upon  the 
altar  of  Divus  Augustus.  On  the  other  hand  whatever 
is    lower    and   godless    gives    rise    to  the  systems  of  caste 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  21 


in  India  and  in  Eg}rpt,  and  to  slavery  everywhere  else, 
thereby  placing  one  man  under  a  base  subjection  to  his 
fellowman.  Under  Islamism,  which  dreams  of  its  paradise 
of  houries  sensuality  usurps  public  authority,  and  woman 
is  the  slave  of  man,  even  as  the  kafir  is  the  slave  of 
the  Mosliin.  Romanism,  rooting  in  Christian  soil,  over- 
comes the  absolute  character  of  distinction,  and  renders 
it  relative,  but  in  order  to  interpret  every  relation  of 
man  to  man  hierarchically.  There  is  a  hierarchy  among 
the  angels  of  God,  a  hierarchy  in  God's  Church,  a 
hierarchy  iu  life,  and  so  it  has  an  entirely  aristocratic 
interpretation  of  life  as  the  embodiment  of  the  ideal. 
Finally  Modernism,  which  denies  and  abolishes  every  differ- 
ence, cannot  rest  until  it  has  made  woman  man  and 
man  woman,  and,  putting  every  distinction  on  a  common 
level,  kills  life  by  placing  it  under  the  ban  of  uniformity. 
One  type  must  answer  for  all,  one  uniform,  one  position 
and  one  and  the  same  development  of  life ;  and  whatever 
goes  beyond  and  above  it,  is  looked  upon  as  an  insult  to 
the  common  consciousness.  In  the  same  way  Calvinism  has 
derived  from  its  fundamental  relation  to  God  a  peculiar 
interpretation  of  man's  relation  to  man,  and  it  is  this  only 
true  relation,  which  since  the  16th  century  has  been  gaining 
the  day.  If  Calvinism  places  our  entire  human  life  im- 
mediately before  God,  then  it  follows  that  all  men  or 
women,  rich  or  poor,  weak  or  strong,  dull  or  talented,  as 
creatures  of  God,  and  as  lost  sinners,  have  no  claim  what- 
soever to  lord  it  one  over  an  other,  aud  that  we  stand 
as  equals  before  God,  and  consequently  equal  as  man  to 
man.  Hence  we  cannot  recognize  any  distinction  among 
men,  save  such  as  has  been  imposed  by  God  Himself,  in 
that  He  gave  one  to  have  authority  over  the  other,  or 
enriched  one  with  more  talents  than  the  other,  in  order 
that  the  man  of  more  talents  should  serve  the  man  with 
less,  and  in  him  serve  his  God.  Hence  Calvinism  condemns 
not  merely  all  open  slavery  and  systems  of  caste,  but  also  all 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  22 


covert  slavery  of  woman  and  of  the  poor;  it  is  opposed 
to  all  hierarchy  among  men,  it  tolerates  no  aristocracy 
save  such  as  is  able,  either  in  person  or  in  family,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  to  exhibit  superiority  of  character  or 
talent,  and  to  show  that  it  does  not  claim  this  superiority 
for  self-aggrandizement  or  ambitious  pride,  but  for  the 
sake  of  spending  it  in  the  service  of  God.  Hence  Calvinism 
was  bound  to  find  its  utterance  in  the  democratic  inter- 
pretation of  life ;  to  proclaim  the  liberty  of  nations ;  and 
not  to  rest  until  both  politically  and  socially  every  man, 
simply  because  he  is  man,  should  be  recognized,  respected  and 
dealt  with  as  a  creature  created  after  the  Divine  likeness. 
This  was  no  outcome  of  envy.  It  was  not  the  man  of 
lower  estate  who  reduced  his  superior  to  his  level  in  order 
to  usurp  the  higher  place,  but  it  was  a  kneeling  in  concert 
of  all  men  at  the  feet  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  This 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  it  made  no  sudden  break  with 
the  past.  Even  as  in  its  early  stage  Christianity  did  not 
abolish  slavery,  but  undermined  it  by  a  moral  judgment, 
so  Calvinism  allowed  the  provisional  continuance  of  the 
conditions  of  hierarchy  and  aristocracy  as  traditions  belong- 
ing to  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  not  laid  up  as  a  charge 
against  him,  that  William  of  Orange  was  a  prince  of  royal 
lineage;  he  was  the  more  honored  for  it.  But  inwardly 
Calvinism  has  modified  the  structure  of  society  not  by  the 
envying  of  classes,  nor  by  an  undue  esteem  for  the  possess- 
ions of  the  rich,  but  by  a  more  serious  interpretation  of 
life.  By  better  labor  and  a  higher  development  of  character 
the  middle  and  working  classes  have  provoked  the  nobility 
and  the  wealthier  citizens  to  jealousy.  First  looking  to 
God,  and  then  to  one's  neighbor  was  the  impulse,  the  mind 
and  the  spiritual  custom  to  which  Calvinism  gave  entrance. 
And  from  this  holy  fear  of  God  and  this  united  stand 
before  the  face  of  God  a  holier  democratic  idea  has  devel- 
oped itself,  and  has  evermore  gained  ground.  This  result 
has  been  brought  about  by  nothing  so  much  as  by  fellow- 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  23 

ship  in  suffering.  When,  though  loyal  to  the  Romish  faith, 
the  dukes  of  Egmont  and  Home  ascended  the  same  scaffold 
on  which,  for  the  sake  of  a  nobler  faith,  the  working-man 
and  the  weaver  had  been  executed,  in  that  bitter  death 
the  reconciliation  between  the  classes  received  its  sanction* 
By  his  bloody  persecutions,  Alva  the  Aristocrat  advanced 
the  prosperous  development  of  the  spirit  of  Democracy.  To 
have  placed  man  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  man,  so  far 
as  the  purely  human  interests  are  concerned,  is  the  immor- 
tal glory  which  incontestably  belongs  to  Calvinism.  The 
difference  between  it  and  the  Utopian  dream  of  equality  of 
the  French  Revolution  is :  that  while  in  Paris  it  was  one 
action  in  concert  against  God,  here  all  were  on  their  knees 
before  God,  consumed  with  a  common  zeal  for  the  glory 
of  His  Name. 


The  third  fundamental  relation  which  decides  the  inter- 
pretation of  life  is  the  relation  which  you  bear  to  the 
world.  As  said  before,  there  are  three  principle  elements 
with  which  you  come  in  touch :  viz.,  God,  man  and  the 
world.  Having  reviewed  the  relation  in  which  Calvinism 
places  you  to  God  and  to  man,  the  third  and  last  funda- 
mental relation  is  in  order:  viz.,  your  attitude  toward  the 
world.  Of  Paganism  it  can  be  said  in  general,  that  it  places 
too  high  an  estimate  upon  the  world,  and  therefore  to 
some  extent  it  both  stands  in  fear  of,  and  loses  itself  in 
it.  On  the  other  hand  Islamism  places  too  low  an  estimate 
upon  the  world,  makes  game  of  it  and  triumphs  over  it 
in  reaching  after  the  visionary  world  of  a  sensual  paradise. 
For  the  purpose  in  hand  however  we  need  say  no  more 
of  either,  since  both  for  Christian  Europe  and  America 
the  antithesis  between  man  and  the  world  has  assumed 
the  narrower  form  of  the  antithesis  between  the  world  and 
the  Christian.  The  traditions  of  the  Middle  Ages  gave 
rise  to  this.     Under  the  hierarchy  of  Rome  the  Church  and 


CALVINISM    IN   HISTORY.  24 


the  World  were  placed  over  against  each  other,  the  one  as 
being  sanctified  and  the  other  as  being  still  under  the  curse. 
Everything  outside  the  Church  was  in  the  hands  of  demons, 
and  exorcism  banished  this  demoniacal  power  from  every- 
thing that  came  under  the  protection,  influence  and  inspi- 
ration of  the  Church.  Hence  in  a  Christian  country  the 
entire  social  life  was  to  be  covered  by  the  wings  of  the 
Church.  The  magistrate  had  to  be  anointed  and  confess- 
ionally  bound,  art  and  science  had  to  be  placed  under 
ecclesiastical  animation  and  censure,  trade  and  commerce 
had  to  be  bound  to  the  Church  by  the  tie  of  guilds,  and 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  family  life  was  to  be  placed 
under  ecclesiastical  guardianship.  This  was  a  gigantic- 
effort  to  claim  the  entire  world  for  Christ,  but  one  which 
of  necessity  brought  with  it  the  severest  judgment  upon 
every  life-tendenc3r  which  either  as  heretical  or  as  demon- 
iacal withdrew  itself  from  the  blessing  of  the  Church. 
Hence  the  stake  was  lit  alike  for  witch  and  heretic,  for  in 
principle  they  lay  under  the  same  bam  And  this  deadening 
theory  was  carried  out  with  iron  logic,  not  from  cruelty, 
nor  from  any  low  ambition,  but  from  the  lofty  purpose  of 
saving  the  christianized  world,  i.e.,  the  world  as  overshadowed 
by  the  Church.  This  of  course  avenged  itself  in  the  intro- 
duction of  the  world  into  the  Church,  and  in  the  antithesis 
between  the  noisy  carnival  and  the  mystical  absorption 
in  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  the  discord  between  spiritual 
aspirations  and  worldly  sensualism  came  out  in  the  most 
irritating  wa}^.  Escape  from  the  world  was  the  counterpoise 
in  monastic  and  partly  even  in  clerical  orders,  which 
emphasized  holiness  in  the  centrum  of  the  Church  in  order 
to  wink  the  more  lightly  at  worldly  excesses  without.  As 
a  natural  result  the  world  corrupted  the  Church,  and  by 
its  dominion  over  the  world  the  Church  proved  an  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  the  world's  free  development  of  its  life. 

Thus    making   its    appearance    in    a   well-ordered   social 
state    Calvinism    has    wrought    an    entire    change   in    the 


CALVINISM   IN   HISTORY.  25 


world  of  thoughts  and  conceptions.  In  this  also,  placing  it 
self  before  the  face  of  God,  it  has  not  only  honored  man 
for  the  sake  of  his  likeness  to  the  Divine  image,  but  also 
the  world  as  a  Divine  creation,  and  has  at  once  placed  to 
the  front  the  great  principle  that  there  is  a  particular  grace 
which  works  Salvation,  and  a  common  grace  by  which  God, 
maintainsing  the  life  of  the  world,  relaxes  the  curse  which 
rests  upon  it,  arrests  its  process  of  corruption,  and  thus 
allows  the  untrammeled  development  of  our  life  in  which 
to  glorify  Himself  as  Creator.  Thus  the  Church  receded  in 
order  to  be  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  congregation 
of  believers,  and  in  every  department  the  life  of  the  world 
was  not  emancipated  from  God,  but  from  the  dominion  ol 
the  Church;  so  that  from  the  high  moral  standard  among 
God's  people  alone  the  world  might  receive  the  antidote 
to  its  indwelling  corruption.  Thus  domestic  life  regained  its 
independence,  trade  and  commerce  realized  their  strength 
in  liberty,  art  and  science  were  set  free  from  every  ecclesias- 
tical bond  and  restored  to  their  own  inspirations,  and  man 
began  to  understand  the  subjection  of  all  nature  with  its 
hidden  forces  and  treasures  to  himself  as  a  holy  duty, 
imposed  upon  him  by  the  original  ordinances  of  Paradise. 
Henceforth  the  curse  should  no  longer  rest  upon  the  world 
itself,  but  upon  that  which  is  sinful  in  it,  and  instead  of 
monastic  flight  from  the  world  the  duty  is  now  emphasized 
of  serving  God  in  the  world,  in  every  position  in  life,  life 
itself  for  the  reason  of  its  being  secular  being  none  the 
less  divine.  To  praise  God  in  the  Church  and  serve  Him  in 
the  world  became  the  inspiring  impulse,  and  in  the  Church, 
strength  was  to  be  gathered  by  which  to  resist  temptation 
and  sin  in  the  world.  Thus  puritanic  sobriety  went  hand 
in  hand  with  the  reconquest  of  the  entire  life  of  the  world, 
and  Calvinism  gave  the  impulse  to  that  new  development 
which  dared  to  face  the  world  with  the  Roman  thought: 
nil  humanum  a  me  alienum  puto,  although  never  allowing  itself 
to  be  intoxicated  by  its  poisonous  cup. 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  26 


Especially  in  its  antithesis  to  Anabaptism  Calvinism  ex- 
hibits itself  in  bold  relief.  For  Anabaptism  adopted  the 
opposite  method,  and  in  its  effort  to  evade  the  world  it 
confirmed  the  monastic  starting-point  generalizing  it  to 
a  rule  for  all  believers,  and  it  was  not  from  Calvinism, 
but  from  this  anabaptistic  principle,  that  Akosmism  had 
its  rise  among  certain  Protestants  in  Western  Europe.  In 
fact  Anabaptism  adopted  the  Romish  theor}r,  with  this 
difference:  that  it  placed  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  room 
of  the  Church,  and  abandoned  the  distinction  between  the 
two  moral  standards,  one  for  the  clergy  and  the  other  for 
the    laity.    For   the   rest   the  Anabaptist's  standpoint   was: 

1.  that  the  unbaptized  world  was  under  the  curse,  for 
which    reason  he  withdrew  from  all  civil  institutions;  and 

2.  that  the  circle  of  baptized  believers  —  with  Rome  the 
Church,  but  with  him  the  kingdom  of  God  —  was  duty 
bound  to  take  all  civil  life  under  its  guardianship  and  to 
remodel  it;  and  so  John  of  Leyden  violently  established 
his  shameless  power  at  Munster  as  King  of  the  New  Zion, 
and  his  devotees  ran  naked  through  the  streets  of  Amster- 
dam. Hence  on  the  same  grounds  on  which  Calvinism 
rejected  Rome's  theory  concerning  the  world,  it  rejected 
the  theory  of  the  Anabaptist,  and  proclaimed  that  the 
Church  must  withdraw  again  within  its  spiritual  domain, 
and  that  in  the  world  we  should  realize  the  potencies  of 
God's  common  grace  in  order  that  while  emancipating  the 
world  from  the  Church  we  in  our  public  life  should  feel 
bound  by  the  holy  ordinances  of  God. 

Thus  it  is  shown  that  Calvinism  has  a  sharply-defined 
starting-point  of  its  own  for  the  three  fundamental  relations 
of  all  human  existence:  viz.,  our  relation  to  God,  to  man 
and  to  the  world.  For  our  relation  to  God:  an  immediate 
fellowship  of  man  with  the  Eternal,  independently  of  priest 
or  church.  For  the  relation  of  man  to  man :  the  recognition 
in  each  person  of  human  worth,  which  is  his  by  virtue  of 
his  creation  after  the  Divine  likeness,  and  therefore  of  the 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY. 


equality  of  all  men  before  God  and  the  legislation,  each  one 
occupying  the  position  appointed  him  of  God,  and  endowed 
with  the  talents  divinely  bestowed  for  divine  purposes. 
And  for  our  relation  to  the  world:  the  recognition  that  in 
the  whole  world  the  curse  is  restrained  by  grace,  that  the 
life  of  the  world  is  to  be  honored  in  its  independence,  and 
that  we  must,  in  every  domain,  discover  the  treasures  and 
develop  the  potencies  hidden  by  God  in  the  world  and  in 
her  life,  the  fear  of  God  remaining  our  never  failing 
guarantee  against  her  corruption.  This  justifies  us  fully  in 
our  statement  that  Calvinism  duly  answers  the  three  above- 
named  conditions,  and  thus  is  incontestably  entitled  to  take 
its  stand  by  the  side  of  Paganism,  Islamism,  Romanism  and 
Modernism,  and  to  claim  for  itself  the  glory  of  possessing 
a  fixed  well-defined  principle  of  an  all-embracing  tendency. 


But  even  this  is  not  all.  The  fact  that  in  a  given  circle 
Calvinism  has  formed  an  interpretation  of  life  of  its  own, 
from  which  both  in  the  spiritual  and  secular  domain  a 
special  system  arose  for  domestic  and  social  life,  justifies 
it  to  assert  itself  as  an  independent  formation ;  but  does 
not  yet  credit  it  with  the  honor  of  having  led  humanity 
as  such  up  to  a  higher  stage  in  its  development,  and  there- 
fore has  not  as  yet  attained  that  standpoint  which  alone 
could  give  it  the  right  to  claim  for  itself  the  energy  and 
devotion  of  our  hearts.  In  China  it  can  be  asserted  with 
equal  right  that  Confucianism  has  produced  a  form  of  its 
own  for  life  in  a  given  circle  and  with  the  Mongolian  race 
that  form  of  life  rests  upon  a  theory  of  its  own.  But  what 
has  China  done  for  humanity  in  general,  and  for  the  steady 
development  of  our  race?  Even  so  far  as  the  waters  of 
its  life  were  clear,  they  formed  nothing  but  an  isolated  lake. 
Almost  the  same  remark  applies  to  the  high  development 
which  was  once  the  boast  of  India  and  to  the  state  of 
things  in  Mexico  and  Peru  in  the  davs  of  Montezuma  and 


CALVINISM   W   HISTORY.  28 

the  Iucas.  In  all  these  regions  the  people  attained  a  high 
degree  of  development,  but  stopped  there  and,  remaining 
ioslated,  in  no  way  proved  a  benefit  to  humanity  at  lai-ge.  This 
applies  more  strongly  still  to  the  life  of  the  colored  races 
on  the  coast  and  in  the  interior  of  Africa ;  a  far  lower 
form  of  existence  reminding  us  not  even  of  a  lake  but 
rather  of  pools  and  marshes.  There  is  but  one  world- 
stream,  broad  and  fresh,  which  from  the  beginning  bore 
the  promise  of  the  future ;  this  stream  had  its  rise  in 
Middle -Asia  and  the  Levant,  and  has  steadily  continued 
its  course  from  East  to  West.  From  Western  Europe  it 
has  passed  on  to  your  Eastern  States  and  from  thence 
to  California.  The  sources  of  this  stream  of  development 
are  found  in  Babylon  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  From 
thence  it  flowed  on  to  Greece.  From  Greece  it  passed 
on  to  the  Roman  Empire.  From  the  Romanic  nations  it 
continued  its  way  to  the  North-western  parts  of  Europe, 
and  so  from  Holland  and  England  it  reached  at  length  your 
continent.  At  present  that  stream  is  at  a  standstill.  Its 
Western  course  through  China  and  Japan  is  impeded, 
meanwhile  no  one  can  tell  what  forces  for  the  future  may 
yet  lie  slumbering  in  the  Slavic  races  which  have  thus 
far  failed  of  progress.  But  while  this  secret  of  the  future 
is  still  veiled  in  mystery,  the  course  of  this  world-stream 
from  East  to  West  can  be  denied  by  none;  and  therefore 
I  am  justified  in  saying:  that  Paganism,  Islamism  and 
Romanism  are  the  three  successive  formations  which  this 
development  had  reached,  when  its  further  direction  passed 
over  into  the  hands  of  Calvinism;  and  that  Calvinism  in 
turn  is  now  denied  this  leading  influence  by  Modernism, 
the  daughter  of  the  French  Revolution. 

The  succession  of  these  four  phases  of  development  did  not 
take  place  mechanically,  with  sharply  outlined  divisions  and 
parts.  This  development  of  life  is  organic,  and  therefore  each 
new  period  roots  in  the  past.  In  its  deepest  logic  Calvinism 
had    already    been    apprehended    by   Augustine,   had   long 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY.  2!> 


before  Augustine  been  proclaimed  in  Rome  by  the  Apostle 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  from  Paul  goes  back  to 
Israel  and  its  prophets,  yea  to  the  tents  of  the  patriarchs. 
Romanism  does  not  make  its  appearance  suddenly,  as  b}r 
one  stroke  of  magic,  but  is  the  joint  product  of  the  three 
potencies  of  Israel's  priesthood,  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and 
the  world-organization  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Islam  joins 
itself  to  Israel's  Monism,  to  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  and 
to  the  tradition  of  the  Koraishites.  And  even  the  Pagan- 
ism of  Babylon  and  Egypt  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Greece 
and  Rome  upon  the  other,  stands  organically  related  to 
what  lay  behind  these  nations,  preceding  the  prosperity 
of  their  lives.  But  even  so  it  is  as  clear  as  day  that  the 
supreme  force  in  the  central  development  of  the  human  race 
moved  along  successively  from  Babylon  and  Egypt  to  Greece 
and  Rome,  then  to  the  chief  regions  of  the  Papal  dominion, 
and  finally  to  the  Calvinistic  nations  of  Western  Europe. 
If  Israel  flourished  in  the  days  of  Babylon  and  Egypt, 
however  high  its  standard,  the  direction  and  the  develop- 
ment of  our  human  race  was  not  in  the  hands,  of  the 
sons  ot  Abraham  but  in  those  of  the  Belshassars  and  the 
Pharaohs.  Again,  this  leadership  does  not  pass  from  Ba- 
bylon and  Egypt  on  to  Israel  but  to  Greece  and  Rome. 
However  high  the  stream  of  Christianity  had  risen  when 
Islam  made  its  appearance,  in  the  8th  and  9th  centuries 
the  followers  of  Mahomet  were  our  teachers  and  with  them 
rested  the  issue  of  the  world.  And  though  the  hegemony  of 
Romanism  still  maintained  itself  for  a  short  time  after  the 
peace  of  Munster,  no  one  questions  the  fact,  that  the  higher 
development  which  we  are  now  enjoying  we  owe  neither 
to  Spain  nor  to  Austria,  nor  even  to  the  Germany  of  that 
time,  but  to  the  Calvinistic  countries  of  the  Netherlands 
and  to  England  of  the  16th  century.  Under  Louis  XIV 
Romanism  arrested  this  higher  development  in  France,  but 
only  that  in  the  French  Revolution  it  might  exhibit  a 
ghastly  caricature   of  Calvinism,    which    in    its  sad  conse- 


CALVINISM   IX    HISTORY.  3© 


quences  broke  the  inner  strength  of  France  as  a  nation, 
and  weakened  its  international  significance.  The  fundamental 
idea  of  Calvin  has  been  transplanted  from  Holland  and 
England  to  America,  thus  driving  our  higher  development 
ever  more  Westward,  until  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific 
it  now  reverently  abides  whatsoever  God  has  ordained. 
But  no  matter  what  mysteries  the  future  may  yet  have  to 
disclose  the  fact  remains  that  the  broad  stream  of  the 
development  of  our  race  runs  from  Babylon  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, through  the  five  stadia  of  Babylonian-Egyptian,  Greek- 
Roman,  Islamitic,  Romanistic  and  Calvinistic  civilization, 
and  the  present  conflict  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America 
finds  its  main  cause  in  the  fundamental  antithesis  between 
the  energy  of  Calvinism  which  proceded  from  the  throne 
of  God,  found  the  source  of  its  power  in  the  Word  of  God, 
and  in  every  sphere  of  human  life  exalted  the  glory  of 
God, — and  its  caricature  in  the  French  Revolution,  which 
proclaimed  its  unbelief  in  the  cry  of:  no  God  no  master; 
and  which  presently  in  the  form  of  German  Pantheism  is 
reducing  itself  more  and  more  to  a  modern  Paganism. 


Thus  you  see  I  spoke  none  too  boldly,  when  I  claimed 
for  Calvinism  the  honor  of  being  neither  an  ecclesiastic,  nor 
a  theologic,  nor  a  sectarian  conception,  but  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal phases  in  the  general  development  of  our  human  race ; 
and  among  these  the  youngest,  whose  high  calling  it  still 
remains  to  influence  the  further  course  of  human  life.  And 
I  make  this  statement  without  in  any  way  undervaluing 
the  importance  of  its  caricature  in  Modernism, — but  of  this 
T  wile  speak  later  on.— Just  now  however  allow  me  to 
indicate  another  circumstance,  which  strengthens  my  prin- 
cipal statement,  viz.,  the  com  mingling  of  blood  as  thus  far  the 
physical  basis  of  all  higher  human  development.  From  the 
high-lands  of  Asia  our  human  race  came  down  in  groups, 
and  these  in  turn  have  been  divided  into  races  and  nations; 


CALVINISM   IN    HISTORY.  31 


and  in  entire  conformity  to  the  prophetic  blessing  of  Noah 
the  children  of  Shem  and  of  Japheth  have  been  the  sole 
bearers  of  the  development  of  the  race.  No  impulse  for  any 
higher  life  has  ever  gone  forth  from  the  third  group.  With 
the  two  other  groups  a  twofold  phenomenon  presents  itself. 
There  are  tribal  nations  which  have  isolated  themselves 
and  others  which  have  intermingled.  Thus  on  the  one 
hand  there  are  groups  which  have  dominated  exclusively 
their  own  inherent  forces  and  on  the  other  hand  groups 
which  by  commingling  have  crossed  their  traits  with 
those  of  other  tribes,  so  having  attained  a  higher  per- 
fection. It  is  noteworthy  that  the  process  of  human 
development  steadily  proceeds  with  those  groups  whose 
historic  characteristic  is  not  isolation  but  the  commingling 
of  blood.  On  the  whole  the  Mongolian  race  has  held  itself 
apart,  and  in  its  isolation  has  bestowed  no  benefits  upon 
our  race  at  large.  Behind  the  Himalayas  a  similar  life 
secluded  itself,  and  hence  failed  to  impart  any  permanent 
impulse  to  the  outside  world.  Even  in  Europe  we  find  that 
with  the  Scandinavians  and  Slavs  there  was  hardly  any 
intermingling  of  blood,  and,  consequently  having  failedto  de- 
velop a  richer  type,  they  have  taken  little  part  in  the  general  de- 
velopment of  human  life.  On  the  other  hand  the  tablets  from 
Babylon  in  our  great  Museums  by  the  two  languages  of 
their  inscriptions  still  show  that  in  Mesopotamia  the  Aryan 
element  of  the  Accadians  mingled  itself  at  an  early  period 
with  the  Semitic- Babylonian,  and  Egyptology  leads  us  to 
conclude  that  in  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs  we  deal  from 
the  beginning  with  a  population  produced  lay  the  mingling 
of  two  different  tribes.  No  one  believes  any  longer  the 
pretended  race-unity  of  the  Greeks.  In  Greece  as  well  as  in 
Italy  we  deal  with  races  of  a  later  date  who  have  intermingled 
with  the  earlier  Pelasgians,  Etruscians  and  others.  Islam 
seems  to  be  exclusively  Arabic,  but  a  study  of  the  spread 
of  Islamism  among  the  Moors,  Persians,  Turks  and  other 
series    of  subjected    tribes,    with  whom  intermarriage  was 


CALVINISM   IN    HISTORY.  32 


common,  at  once  reveals  the  fact  that  especially  with  Ma- 
hometans the  commingling  of  blood  was  even  greater 
than  with  their  predecessors.  When  the  leadership  of  the 
world  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Romanic  natious,  the 
same  phenomenon  presented  itself  in  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal 
and  France.  In  these  cases  the  Aborigines  were  generally 
Basques  or  Celts,  the  Celts  in  turn  being  overcome  by  the 
Germanic  tribes,  and  even  as  in  Italy  the  East-Gots  and 
Lombards,  so  in  Spain  the  West-Gots,  in  Portugal  the 
Swabians  and  in  France  the  Franks  instilled  new  blood 
into  debilitated  veins  and  to  this  wonderful  rejuvenation 
the  Romanic  nations  owed  their  vigor  until  far  into  the 
16th  century.  Thus  in  the  life  of  nations  the  same  pheno- 
menon repeats  itself  which  so  often  strikes  the  Historian  as 
a  result  of  international  marriages  among  princely  families, 
viz..  that  the  Hapsburgs  and  the  Bourbons,  the  Oranges 
and  the  Hohenzollern,  for  instance,  have  been,  centmy  after 
century,  productive  of  a  host  of  most  remarkable  statesmen 
and  heroes.  The  raiser  of  stock  has  aimed  at  the  same 
effect  in  the  crossing  of  different  breeds,  and  botanists 
harvest  large  profits  by  obeying  the  same  law  of  life  with 
plants.  And  by  itself  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  the 
union  of  natural  powers,  divided  among  different  tribes, 
must  be  productive  of  a  higher  development.  To  this  it 
should  be  added  that  the  history  of  our  race  does  not  aim 
at  the  improvement  of  any  single  tribe,  but  at  the  devel- 
opment of  mankind  taken  as  a  whole  and  therefore  needs 
this  commingling  of  blood  in  order  to  attain  its  end.  For 
this  reason  we  may  expect  that  Calvinism  also  will  obey 
this  law,  in  fact  history  shows  that  the  nations  among 
whom  Calvinism  flourished  most  widely,  exhibit  in  even 
way  this  mingling  of  races.  In  Switzerland  the  Cermans, 
united  with  Italians  and  French ;  in  France  the  Gauls,  with 
Franks  and  Burgundians;  in  the  Lowlands  Celts  and  Welch 
with  Germans ;  so  also  in  England  the  old  Celts  and  Anglo- 
saxons,   were  afterwards   raised  to  a  still  higher  standard 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  33 

of  national  life  by  the  invasion  of  the  Normans.  Indeed 
it  ma}-  be  said,  that  the  three  principal  tribes  of  Western 
Europe,  the  Celtic,  Romanic  and  Germanic  elements  under 
the  leadership  of  the  Germanic,  give  us  the  genealogy  of 
the  Calvinistic  nations.  In  America,  where  Calvinism  has 
come  to  unfold  itself  in  a  still  higher  liberty,  this  comm- 
ingling of  blood  is  assuming  a  larger  proportion  than  has 
ever  yet  been  known.  Here  the  blood  flows  together 
from  all  the  tribes  of  the  ancient  world,  and  again  we 
have  the  Celts  from  Ireland,  the  Germans  from  Germany 
and  Scandinavia,  united  to  tbe  Slavs  from  Russia  and 
Poland,  who  promote  still  farther  this  already  vigorous 
intermingling  of  the  races.  This  latter  process  takes  place 
under  the  higher  exponent  that  it  is  not  merely  the  union 
of  tribe  with  tribe,  but  that  the  old  historic  nations  are 
dissolving  themselves  in  order  to  allow  the  reunion  of  their 
members  in  one  higher  unity,  constantly  assimilated  by 
the  American  type.  In  this  respect  also  Calvinism  fully 
meets  the  conditions  imposed  on  every  new  phase  of 
development  in  the  life  of  humanity.  It  spread  itself  in 
a  domain  where  it  found  the  commingling  of  blood  stronger 
than  under  Romanism,  and  in  America  raised  this  up  to 
its  highest  conceivable  realization. 


Thus  it  is  shown  that  Calvinism  does  not  only  meet  the 
necessary  condition  of  the  mingling  of  blood,  but  that  in 
the  process  of  human  development  it  also  represents,  with 
respect  to  this,  a  further  stadium.  In  Babylon  this  com- 
mingling of  blood  was  of  small  significance ;  it  gains  in 
importance  with  the  Greeks  and  Romans;  it  goes  further 
under  Islamism ;  is  dominant  under  Romanism ;  but  only 
among  Calvinistic  nations  does  it  reach  its  highest  perfec- 
tion. Here  in  America  it  is  achieving  the  intermingling  of 
all  the. nations  of  the  old  world.  A  similar  climax  of  this 
process    of   human    development    is   also  exhibited  lyy  Cal- 


CALVINISM    IN    HISTORY.  34 


viuism  in  the  fact,  that  only  under  the  influence  of  Cal- 
vinism does  the  impulse  of  public  activity  proceed  from  the 
people  themselves.  In  the  life  of  the  nations  also  there  is 
development  from  the  under-age  period  to  that  of  maturity. 
As  in  the  family-life,  during  the  years  of  childhood,  the 
direction  of  affairs  is  in  the  hands  of  the  parents,  so  also 
in  the  life  of  the  nations  it  is  but  natural  that  during 
their  under-age  period  first  the  Asiatic  despot,  then  some 
eminent  ruler,  afterwards  the  priesthood,  and  finally  both 
priest  and  magistrate  together  should  stand  at  the  head 
every  movement.  The  history  of  the  nations  in  Babylon  oi 
and  under  the  Pharaohs,  in  Greece  and  Rome,  under 
Islamism  and  under  the  papal  system,  fully  confirms  this 
course  of  development.  But  it  is  self-evident  that  this 
could  not  be  the  permanent  state  of  things.  Just  because 
by  this  progress  of  development  the  nations  finally  came 
of  age,  they  must  at  length  reach  that  stadium  in  which 
the  people  awoke,  stood  up  for  their  rights,  and  originated 
the  movement  that  was  to  direct  the  course  of  future 
events;  and  in  the  rise  of  Calvinism  this  stadium  appears 
to  have  been  reached.  Thus  far  every  forward  movement 
had  gone  forth  from  the  authorities  in  State,  Church 
or  Science,  and  from  thence  had  descended  to  the  people. 
In  Calvinism  on  the  other  hand  the  people  themselves 
stand  out  in  their  broad  ranks  and  from  a  spontaneity  of 
their  own,  press  forward  to  a  higher  form  of  social  life  and 
conditions.  Calvinism  had  its  rise  with  the  people.  In 
Lutheran  countries  the  magistrate  was  still  the  leader  in 
public  advances,  but  in  Switzerland,  among  the  Huguenots, 
in  Belgium,  in  the  Netherlands,  in  Scotland  and  now  in 
America  the  people  themselves  created  the  impetus.  They 
seemed  to  have  matured;  to  have  reached  the  period  in 
which  they  were  of  age.  Even  when  in  some  cases  the 
nobility  took  an  heroic  stand  for  the  oppressed,  their  activity 
ended  in  nothing,  and  the  middle  class  alone,  by  its 
undaunted   euergy,    broke   the  barrier,  and  among  these  it 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY.  35 

was  the  "common  folk"  to  whose  heroic  initiative  William 
the  Silent  as  he  hemself  acknowledges  owed  the  success  of 
his  undertaking. 


Hence  as  a  central  phenomenon  in  the  development  of 
humanity  Calvinism  is  not  only  entitled  to  an  honorable 
position  by  the  side  of  Paganistic,  Islamistic  and  Romanistic 
forms,  since  like  these  it  represents  a  peculiar  principle  domin- 
ating the  whole  of  life,  but  it  also  meets  every  required 
condition  for  the  advancement  of  human  development  another 
stadium.  And  yet  this  would  remain  a  bare  possibility 
without  any  corresponding  reality,  if  history  did  not  testify 
that  Calvinism  has  actually  caused  the  .stream  of  human 
life  to  flow  in  another  channel,  and  has  ennobled  the 
social  life  of  the  nations.  And  therefore  in  closing  I  assert 
that  Calvinism  not  only  held  out  these  possibilities  but 
has  also  understood  how  to  realize  them.  To  prove  this, 
just  ask  yourselves  what  would  have  become  of  Europe  and 
America,  in  case  in  the  16th  century  the  star  of  Calvinism 
had  not  suddenly  arisen  on  the  horizon  of  Western  Europe. 
In  that  case  Spain  would  have  crushed  the  Netherlands. 
In  England  and  Scotland  the  Stuarts  would  have  carried 
out  their  fatal  plans.  In  Switzerland  the  spirit  of  half- 
heartedness  would  have  gained  the  day.  And  the  beginnings 
of  life  in  this  new  world  would  have  been  of  an  entirely 
different  character.  And  as  a  necessary  sequence  the  balance 
of  power  in  Europe  would  have  returned  to  its  former 
stand.  Protestantism  would  not  have  been  able  to  main- 
tain itself  in  politics.  No  further  resistance  could  have 
been  offered  to  the  Romish-conservative  power  of  the 
Hapsburgs,  the  Bourbons  and  the  Stuarts ;  and  the  free 
development  of  the  nations,  as  seen  in  Europe  and  America, 
would  simply  have  been  prevented.  The  whole  American 
continent  would  have  remained  subject  to  Spain;  the  history 
of  both  continents  would  have  become  a  most  mournful  one 
and  it  ever  remains  a  question   whether  the  spirit  of  the 


CALVINISM   IN    HISTORY.  36 


Leipzig  Interim  would  not  have  succeded,  by  way  of  a 
romanized  Protestantism,  in  reducing  Northern  Europe 
again  to  the  sway  of  the  old  Hierarchy.  The  enthusiastic- 
devotion  of  the  best  historians  of  the  second  half  of  this 
century  to  the  struggle  of  the  Netherlands  against  Spain, 
as  one  of  the  finest  subjects  of  investigation,  only  explains 
itself  by  the  conviction,  that  if  the  power  of  Spain  had 
not  been  broken  by  the  heroism  of  the  Calvinistic  spirit, 
the  history  of  the  Netherlands,  of  Europe  and  of  the  world 
would  have  been  as  painfully  sad  and  dark  as  now,  thanks 
to  Calvinism,  it  is  bright  and  inspiriting.  Professor  Fruin 
rightly  remarks  that:  "In  Switzerland,  in  France,  in  the 
Netherlands,  in  Scotland  and  in  England,  and  wherever 
Protestantism  has  had  to  establish  itself  at  the  point  of 
the  sword,  it  was  Calvinism  that  gained  the  day."' 

Call  to  mind  that  this  turn  in  the  history  of  the  world 
could  not  have  been  brought  about  except  by  the  implant- 
ing of  another  principle  in  the  human  heart,  and  by  the 
disclosing  of  another  world  of  thought  to  the  human  mind  ; 
that  only  by  Calvinism  the  psalm  of  liberty  found  its  way 
from  the  troubled  conscience  to  the  lips;  that  Calvinism 
has  captured  and  guaranteed  to  us  our  constitutional  civil 
rights;  and  that  simultaneously  with  this  there  went  out 
from  Western  Europe  that  mighty  movement  which  promo- 
ted the  revival  of  science  and  art,  opened  new  avenues  to 
commerce  and  trade,  beautified  domestic  and  social  life, 
exalted  the  middle  classes  to  positions  of  honor,  caused  philan- 
thropy to  abound,  and  more  than  all  this,  elevated,  purified 
and  ennobled  moral  life  by  puritanic  seriousness,  and  then 
judge  for  yourselves  whether  it  will  do  to  banish  any 
longer  this  God-given  Calvinism  to  the  archives  of  history, 
and  whether  it  is  so  much  of  a  dream  to  conceive  that 
Calvinism  has  yet  a  blessing  to  bring  and  a  bright  hope 
to  unveil  for  the  future. 

You  know  what  has  taken  place  in  Southern-Africa  these 
last  twenty  years.  The  struggle  of  the  Boers  in  the  Trans- 


CALVINISM    IX    HISTORY.  37 

vaal  against  Albion's  superior  powers  must  often  have 
reminded  you  of  your  own  past.  In  what  was  achieved  at 
Majuba  or  at  the  Spitskop,  and  recently  in  the  invasion  of 
Dr.  Jameson  by  Kruger  and  his  handful  of  faithful  followers 
the  heroism  of  old  Calvinism  was  again  brilliantly  evident. 
If  Calvinism  had  not  been  passed  on  from  our  fathers  to 
the  Boers,  their  blood  would  not  have  been  so  heroically 
shed,  and  no  free  republic  would  have  arisen  in  the  Sonth 
of  the  Dark  Continent.  This  proves  that  Calvinism  is  not 
dead — that  it  still  carries  in  its  germ  the  vital  energy 
of  the  days  of  its  former  glory.  Even  as  a  grain  of  wheat 
from  the  Sarcophagi  of  the  Pharoahs,  when  again  committed 
to  the  soil,  bears  fruit  a  hundredfold,  so  Calvinism  still 
carries  in  itself  a  wondrous  power  for  the  future  of  the 
nations.  What  has  been  achieved  in  South  Africa  by  the 
Boers,  we  Christians  of  both  Continents  should  achieve  in 
our  still  holier  struggle  for  Christianity,  marching  under 
the  banner  of  the  Cross  against  the  spirit  of  the  times 
And  for  this  purpose,  of  all  Protestant  tendencies  Calvinism 
alone  arms  us  with  an  inflexible  principle,  by  the  strength 
of  that  principle  guaranteeing  us  a  sure,  though  tar  from 
easy  victory. 


<Ju^a>&1  c~>  A 


SECOND  LECTURE. 


CALVINISM  AND  RELIGION. 

The  conclusion  arrived  at  in  my  first  Lecture,  was  first, 
that,  scientifically  speaking,  Calvinism  means  the  completed 
evolution  of  Protestantism,  resulting  in  a  both  higher  and 
richer  stage  of  human  development.  Further,  that  the  world- 
view  of  Modernism,  with  its  starting-point  in  the  French 
Revolution,  can  claim  no  higher  privilege  than  that  of 
presenting  an  atheistic  caricature  of  the  brilliant  ideal 
proclaimed  by  Calvinism,  therefore  being  unqualified  for 
the  honor  of  leading  us  higher  on.  And,  lastly,  that  who- 
soever rejects  atheism,  or  to  speak  still  more  boldly, 
refuses  to  accept  antitheism,  as  his  fundamental  thought, 
is  bound  to  go  back  to  Calvinism,  not  to  repristinate 
it  in  its  worn-out  form,  but  once  more  to  catch  hold 
of  the  Calvinistic  principles,  in  order  to  embody  them  in 
such  a  form  as,  suiting  the  requirements  of  our  own  century, 
may  restore  the  needed  unity  to  Protestant  thought  and 
the  lacking  energy  to  Protestant  practical  life. 

In  my  present  Lecture,  therefore,  treating  of  Calvinism 
and  Religion,  first  of  all  I  will  try  to  illustrate  the  domi- 
nant position  occupied  by  Calvinism  in  the  central  domain 
of   our    worship   of  the  Most  High.     The  fact  that,  in  the 


CALVINISM    AND   RELIGION. 


religious  domain,  Calvinism  has  occupied  from  the  first  a 
peculiar  and  impressive  position,  nobody  will  deny.  As 
if  by  one  magical  stroke,  it  created  its  own  Confession, 
its  own  Theology,  its  own  Church  Organisation,  its  own 
Church  Discipline,  its  own  Cultus,  and  its  own  Moral  Praxis. 
And  continued  historical  investigation  proves  with  increas- 
ing certainty  that  all  these  new  Calvinistic  forms  for  our 
religious  life  were  the  logical  product  of  its  one  fundamental 
thought  and  the  embodiment  of  one  and  the  same  prin- 
ciple. Measure  the  energy  which  Calvinism  here  displayed 
by  the  utter  incapability  Modernism  evinced  in  the  same 
domain  by  the  absolute  fruitlessness  of  its  endeavours. 
Ever  since  it  entered  its  "mystical"  period,  Modernism  also, 
both  in  Europe  and  in  America,  has  acknowledged  the 
necessity  of  carving  out  a  new  form  for  the  religious  life 
of  our  time.  Hardly  a  century  after  the  once  glittering  tinsel 
of  Rationalism,  now  that  Materialism  is  sounding  its  retreat 
in  the  ranks  of  science,  a  kind  of  hollow  piety  is  again 
exercising  its  enticing  charms,  and  every  day  it  is  becoming 
more  fashionable  to  take  a  plunge  into  the  warm  stream 
of  mysticism.  With  an  almost  sensual  delight  this  mod- 
ern mysticism  quaffs  its  intoxicating  draught  from  the 
nectar-cup  of  some  intangible  infinite.  It  was  even 
purposed  that,  on  the  ruins  of  the  once  so  stately  Puritanic 
building,  a  new  religion,  with  a  new  ritual  should  be 
inaugurated,  as  a  higher  evolution  of  religious  life.  Already, 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  dedication  and 
solemn  opening  of  this  new  sanctuary  has  been  promised 
us.  And  yet  it  has  all  led  to  nothing.  No  tangible  effect 
has  been  produced.  No  formative  principle  lias  emerged 
from  the  imbroglio  of  hypotheses.  Not  even  the  beginning 
of  an  associative  movement  is  as  yet  perceptible,  and  the 
long  looked  for  plant  has  not  even  lifted  its  head  above 
the  barren  soil. — Now,  in  contraposition  to  tin's,  look  at 
the  giant  spirit  of  Calvin,  who,  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
with    one    master    stroke,    placed    before    the   gaze   of  the 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION. 


astonished  world  an  entire  religious  edifice,  erected  in  the 
purest  Scriptural  style.  So  rapidly  was  the  whole  building 
completed  that  most  of  the  spectators  forgot  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  the  wonderful  structure  of  the  foundations.  In  all 
that  the  religious  modern  thought  has,  I  will  not  say 
created,  as  with  a  master  hand,  but  heaped  together,  like 
an  unsuccessful  amateur, — not  one  nation,  not  one  family, 
hardly  one  solitary  soul  has  (to  use  Augustine's  words), 
ever  found  the  requiescat  for  his  "broken  heart,"  while  the 
Reformer  of  Geneva,  by  his  might)'  spiritual  energy,  unto 
five  nations  at  once,  both  then,  and  after  the  lapse  of 
three  centuries,  has  afforded  guidance  in  life,  uplifting  of 
the  heart  unto  the  Father  of  Spirits,  and  holy  peace, 
for  ever.  This  naturally  leads  to  the  question — what  was 
the  secret  of  this  wonderful  energy?  Allow  me  to  present 
the  answer  to  this  question, — first  in  Religion  as  such, 
next  in  religion  as  manifested  in  the  Life  of  the  Church, 
and  lastl}r  in  the  fruit  of  Religion  for  Practical  Life. 


First,  then,  we  must  consider  Religion  as  such.  Here  four 
mutually  dependent  fundamental  questions  arise; — (1)  Does 
Religion  exist  for  the  sake  of  God,  or  for  Man  ?  (2)  Must 
it  operate  directly  or  mediate!)/?  (3)  Can  it  remain  partial 
in  its  operations  or  has  it  to  embrace  the  whole  of  our 
personal  being  and  existence?  and,  (4)  Can  it  bear  a  normal, 
or  must  it  reveal  an  exceptional,  i.e.  a  soteriological  character? 
To  these  four  questions  Calvinism  answers  :  (1)  Man's  religion 
ought  to  be  not  egotistical,  and  for  man,  but  ideal,  for  the 
sake  of  God.  (2)  It  has  to  operate  not  mediately,  by  human 
interposition  but  directly,  from  the  heart.  (3)  It  may  not 
remain  partial,  as  running  alongside  of  life,  but  must  lay 
hold  upon  our  whole  existence.  And  (4)  Its  character  should 
be  soteriological,  i.e.,  it  should  spring,  not  from  our  fallen 
and    therefore   abnormal  nature,  but  from  the  new   man,  re- 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION. 


stored    by   palingenesis  to  his  original  standard.  Allow  we  />u 
then  successively  to  elucidate  each  of  these  four  points. 


Modern  religious  philosophy  ascribes  the  origin  of  religion 
to  a  potency,  from  which  it  could  not  originate,  but  which 
acted  merely,  as  its  supporter  and  preserver.  It  has  mistaken 
the  dead  prop  of  the  living  shoot  for  the  living  shoot  itself. 
Attention  is  called,  and  very  properly,  to  the  contrast  between 
man.  and  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  cosmos  which 
surrounds  him,  and  now  religion  is  introduced  as  a  mystical 
energy,  trying  to  strengthen  him  against  this  immense  power 
of  the  cosmos  which  inspires  him  with  such  deadly  fear. 
Being  conscious  of  the  dominion  which  his  own  unseen 
soul  exercises  over  his  tangible  body,  he  infers  quite 
naturally,  that  Nature,  also,  must  be  moved  by  the  impulse 
of  some  hidden  spiritual  being.  Animistically,  therefore,  he 
first  explains  the  movements  of  nature  as  the  result  of  an 
indwelling  army  of  spirits,  and  tries  to  catch  them  to 
conjure  them,  to  bend  them  to  his  advantage.  Then,  rising 
from  this  atomistic  idea  to  a  more  monistic  conception, 
he  begins  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  personal  gods, — first 
in  the  sense  of  a  disorderly  host  of  unconnected  beings, 
but  soon  concentrated  hierarchically,  under  some  supreme 
Being, — expecting  from  these  divine  beings,  who  stand 
above  nature,  effectual  assistance  against  the  fiendish  power 
of  Nature.  And  finally,  grasping  the  contrast  between  the 
spiritual  and  the  material,  he  paj^s  homage  to  the  Primative 
and  Supreme  Spirit,  as  standing  over  against  all  that  is 
visible,  till,  in  the  end.  having  abandoned  his  faith  in  such 
an  extramuudane  Spirit,  as  a  personal  being,  and  charmed 
by  the  loftiness  of  his  own  human  spirit,  he  prostrates 
himself  before  some  impersonal  ideal  of  which  in  self- 
adoration,  he  deems  himself  to  lie  the  worshipful  bearer. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  various  stages  in  the  progress 
of  this    egoistic   religion,  it  never  overcomes  its  subjective 


CALVINISM   AND   RELIGION. 


character,    remaining    always    a    religion    for    the    sake    of 
man.     Men   are   religious  in    order    to    conjure    the  spirits 
hovering  behind  the  veil  of  Nature,  to  free  themselves  from 
the  oppressive  sway  of  the  cosmos,  or  to  raise  themselves 
above   all    that    is    visible,    in    the    consciousness    of  their 
spiritual    superiority.     It    matters    not  whether  the  Llama 
priest    confines    the    evil    spirits    in  his  jugs,  whether  the 
nature-gods    of   the    Orient    are    invoked    to    find     shelter 
agaiust   the   forces    of   nature,  whether  the  loftier  gods  of 
Greece  are  worshipped  in  their  ascendency  above  nature,  or 
whether,  finally,  idealistic  philosophy  presents  the  spirit  of 
man  himself  as  the  real  object  of  adoration;— in  all  these 
different  forms   it   is    and  remains   a  religion   fostered  for 
man's  sake,  aiming  at  his  safety,  his  liberty,  his  elevation, 
and    partly    also    at    his    triumph    over    death.     And    even 
when    a    religion    of  this    kind    has    developed   itself  into 
monotheism,  the  god  whom  it  worships  remains  invariably 
a  god  who  exists  in  order  to  help  man,  in  order  to  secure 
good  order  and  tranquillity  for  the  State,  to  furnish  assist- 
ance  and  deliverance  in  time  of  need,  or  to    strengthen  the 
nobler  and  higher  impulse  of  the  human  heart  in  its  ceaseless 
struggle   with  the  degrading  influences  of  sin.     The  conse- 
quence   of  this  is  that  all  such  religion  thrives  in  time  of 
famine    and  pestilence,    it   flourishes    among   the  poor  and 
oppressed,  and  it  expands  among  the  humble  and  the  feeble; 
but   it    pines   away    in    the    days    of  prosperity,  it  fails  to 
attract  the  well-to-do,   it    is    abandoned    by  those  who  are 
more  highly  cultured.  As  soon  as  the  more  civilized  classes 
enjoy  tranquillity  and  comfort,  and  by  the  progress  of  science 
feel    more    and   more    delivered    from  the  pressure  of  the 
cosmos,  they  throw  away  the  crutches  of  religion,  and  with 
a  sneer  at  everything  holy,  go  stumbling  forward  on  their 
own  poor  legs.  This  is  the  fatal  end  of  egoistic  religion; — it 
becomes  superfluous  and  dissappears  as  soon  as  the  egoistic 
interests    are    satisfied.     This   was    the    course    of   religion 
among   all  non-Christian  nations,  in  earlier  times,  and  the 


CALVINISM    AXD    RELIGION.  t. 


same  phenomenon  is  repeating  itself  in  our  own  century, 
among  nominal  Christians  of  the  higher,  more  prosperous 
and  more  cultured  classes  of  society.  On  the  continent 
of  Europe  at  least,  the  modern  and  civilized  middle  classes 
deem  themselves  to  have  outgrown  all  religion. 

Now   the    position  of  Calvinism  is  diametrically  opposed 
to    all    this.     It    does    not    deny  that   religion  has  also  its 
human   and    subjective  side;— it  does  not  dispute  the  fact 
that  religion  is  promoted,  encouraged  and  strengthened  by 
our  disposition  to  seek  help  in  time  of  need  and  spiritual  eleva- 
tion in  the  face  of  sensual  passions ;  but  it  maintains  that  it 
reverses  the  proper  order  of  things  to  seek,  in  these  accidental 
motives,  the  essence  and  the  very  purpose  of  religion.  The 
Calvinist  values  all  of  these  as  fruits  which  are  produced  by 
religion,  and  as  props  which  give  it  support,  but  he  refuses 
to  honour  them  as  the  reason  of  its   existence.    Of  course, 
religion,    as    such,   produces   also  a    blessing    for    man,  but 
it   does    not  exist  for  the  sake  of  man; — it  exists    for  the 
sake    of   God.     It    is    not    (rod    who  exists  for  the  sake  of 
His  Creation; — the  Creation  exists  for  the  sake  of  God.  For, 
as  the  Scripture  says,  He  has  created  all  things  for  Himself. 
For  this  reason  God  Even  impressed  a  religious  expression 
on  the  whole  of  unconscious  nature, — on  plants,  on  animals 
and  also  on  children.  "The  whole  earth  is  full  of  His  glory.** 
"How   excellent  is    Thy    Name   oh   God,  in  all  the  earth." 
"The  Heavens  declare  the  gloiy  of  God  and  the  firmament 
sheweth    His    handiwork."    "Out    of  the    mouths  of  babes 
and   sucklings  Thou  hast  ordained  praise."    Frost  and  hail, 
.snow  and  vapour,  the  abyss  and  the  hurricane, — everything 
must   praise  God.     But  just  as  the  entire  creation  reaches 
its  culminating  point  in  man,  so  also  religion  finds  its  clear 
expression  only  in  man  who  is  made  in  the  image  of  God, 
and  this  not  because  man  seeks  it,  but  because  God  Him- 
self increated   in   man's  nature  the  real  essential  religious 
expression,    by    means    of   the    seed   of  religion,  as  Calvin 
defines  it,  sown  in  our  human  heart. 


CALVINISM    AND   RELIGION. 


God  Himself  makes  man  religious  by  means  of  the  sen- 
sus  divimtatis  i.e.  the  sense  of  the  Divine,  which  He  causes 
to  strike  the  chords  on  the  harp  of  his  soul.  A  sound  of 
need  interrupts  the  pure  harmony  of  this  divine  melody, 
but  only  in  consequence  of  sin.  In  its  original  form,  in  its 
natural  condition,  religion  is  exclusively  a  sentiment  of 
admiration  and  adoration,  which  elevates  and  unites,  not 
a  feeling  of  dependence  which  severs  and  depresses.  Just 
as  the  anthem  of  the  Seraphim  around  the  throne  is  one 
uninterrupted  cry  of  "Holy, — Holy, —Holy"!  so  also  the 
religion  of  man  upon  this  earth  should  consist  in  one 
echoing  of  God's  glory,  as  our  Creator  and  Inspirer.  The 
starting-point  of  every  motive  in  religion  is  God  and  nut 
Man.  Man  is  the  instrument  and  means,  God  alone  is 
here  the  goal,  the  point  of  departure  and  the  point  of 
arrival,  the  fountain,  from  which  the  waters  flow,  and  at 
the  same  time,  the  ocean  into  which  they  finally  return. 
To  be  irreligious  is  to  forsake  the  highest  aim  of  our 
existence,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  covet  no  other  existence 
than  for  the  sake  of  God,  to  long  for  nothing  but  for  the 
will  of  God,  and  to  be  wholly  absorbed  in  the  glory  of 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  such  is  the  pith  and  kernel  of  all 
true  religion.  "Hallowed  be  thy  Name.  Thy  kingdom  come. 
Thy  Will  be  done."  is  the  threefold  petition  which  gives 
utterance  to  all  true  religion.  Our  watchword  must  be.— 
"Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  Cod,"  and  after  that  think  of 
your  own  need.  First  stands  the  confession  of  the  absolute 
sovereignty  of  the  Triune  God;  for  of  Him,  through  Him,  and 
unto  Him  are  all  things.  And  therefore  in  prayer  remains 
the  deepest  expression  of  all  religious  life.  This  is  the 
fundamental  conception  of  religion  as  maintained  by  Calvinism, 
and  hitherto,  no  one  has  ever  found  a  higher  conception. 
For  no  higher  conception  can  be  found.  The  fundamental 
thought  of  Calvinism,  at  the  same  time  the  fundamental 
thought  of  the  Bible,  and  of  Christianity  itself,  leads,  in 
the    domain    of  religion    to   the  realization  of  the  highest 


CALVINISM   AND    RELIGION*.  8 

ideal.  Nor  has  the  philosophy  of  religion  in  our  own  century, 
in  its  most  daviug  flights,  ever  attained  a  higher  point  of 
view  nor  a  more  ideal  conception. 


The  second  principal  question  in  all  religion  is  whether 
it  must  be  direct,  or  mediate.  Must  there  stand  a  church. 
a  priest,  or,  as  of  old,  a  sorcerer,  a  dispenser  of  sacred 
mysteries,  between  God  and  the  soul,  or  shall  all  interven- 
ing links  be  cast  away,  so  that  the  bond  of  religion  shall 
bind  the  soul  directly  to  God.  Now  we  find  that  in  all 
non-Christian  religions,  without  any  exception,  human 
intercessors  are  deemed  necessary,  and  in  the  domain  of 
Christianity  itself  the  intercessor  intruded  again  upon  the 
scene,  in  the  saints  of  the  cloisters,  in  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
in  the  host  of  angels,  and  in  the  priestly  hierarchy  of  the 
clergy;  and  although  Luther  took  the  field  against  all 
priestly  mediation,  vet  the  church  which  is  called  by  his 
name,  renewed  by  its  title  of  "eclesia  docens"  the  office  of 
mediator  and  steward  of  mysteries.  On  this  point  also  it 
was  Calvin,  and  he  alone,  who  attained  to  the  full  realiza- 
tion of  the  ideal  of  pure  religion.  Religion  as  he  conceived 
it  must  "nullis  rnediis  interpositis" ',  i.e.  without  any  creatu- 
rely  intercession  realize  the  direct  communion  between  God 
and  the  human  heart.  Not  because  of  any  hatred  against 
priests,  as  such,  not  because  of  any  undervaluing  of  the 
saints,  nor  underestimating  the  significance  of  angels,  but 
solely  because  Calvin  felt  bound  to  vindicate  the  essence 
of  religion  and  the  glory  of  God  in  that  essence,  and  absolutely 
devoid  of  all  yielding  or  wavering,  he  waged  war,  with  holy 
indignation,  against  everything  that  interposed  itself  between 
the  Soul  and  God.  Of  course  he  clearly  perceived  that  in 
order  to  be  fitted  for  the  true  religion,  fallen  man  needs  a 
Mediator,  but  such  a  mediator  could  not  be  found  in  any 
fellow-man.  Only  the  God-man,— only  God  Himself  could 
be   such    a  mediator.  And  this  mediatorship  could  be  con- 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  9 

firmed  not  by  us,  but  only  from  the  side  of  God,  by  the 
indwelling  of  God  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart  of  the 
regenerated.  In  all  religion  God  Himself  must  be  the 
active  power.  He  must  wake  us  religious.  He  must  give 
us  the  religious  disposition,  nothing  being  left  to  us  but 
the  power  to  give  form  and  expression  to  the  deep  religious 
sentiment  which  He,  Himself,  stirred  in  the  depth  of  our 
heart.  There  we  see  the  mistake  of  those  who  regarded 
Calvin  as  only  an  Augustinus  redivivus.  Notwithstanding  his 
sublime  confession  of  God's  holy  grace,  Augustine  remained 
the  Bishop.  He  kept  his  position  between  the  Triune  God 
and  the  layman.  And  although  promenent  among  the  most 
pious  men  of  his  time,  he  had  so  little  insight  into  the 
real  claims  of  thorough-going  religion  on  behalf  of  laymen 
that  in  his  dogmatics  he  lauds  the  church  as  the  mystical 
Purveyor,  into  whose  bosom  God  caused  all  grace  to  flow 
and  from  whose  treasure  all  men  had  to  accept  it.  Only 
he,  therefore,  who  superficially  confines  his  attention  to 
predestination  can  confuse  Augustinianism  and  Calvinism. 
Religion  for  the  sake  of  wan  carries  with  it  the  position 
that  man  has  to  act  as  a  mediator  for  his  fellow-man. 
Religion  for  the  sake  of  God  inexorably  excludes  every 
human  mediatorship.  As  long  as  it  remains  the  chief  purpose 
of  religion  to  help  man,  and  as  long  as  man  is  understood 
to  deserve  grace  by  his  devotion,  it  is  perfectly  natural 
that  the  man  of  inferior  piety  should  invoke  the  mediation 
of  the  holier  man.  Another  must  procure  for  him  what  he 
cannot  procure  for  himself.  The  fruit  on  the  brandies 
hangs  too  high,  and,  therefore,  the  higher-reaching  man  has 
to  pluck  it,  and  hand  it  down  to  his  helpless  comrade.  If. 
on  the  contrary,  the  demand  of  religion  is  that  every 
human  heart  must  give  glory  to  God,  no  man  can  appear 
before  God  on  behalf  of  another.  Then  every  single  human 
being  must  appear  personally,  for  himself,  and  religion 
achieves  its  aim  only  in  the  general  priesthood  of  believers. 
Even    the   new-born   babe  must  have  received  the  seed  of 


CALVINISM    AND   RELIGION.  IO 

religion  from  God  Himself;  and  in  case  it  dies  without 
being  baptized,  it  must  not  be  sent  off  to  a  limbus  tnnocentium, 
but,  if  elected,  enter,  even  as  the  long-lived,  into  personal 
communion  with  God.  for  all  eternity. 

The  importance  of  this  second  point,  in  the  question  (if 
religion,  culminating,  as  it  does,  in  the  confession  of  per- 
sonal election,  is  incalculable.  On  the  one  hand,  all  religion 
must  tend  to  make  man  free,  that  by  a  clear  utterance  he 
may  express  that  general  religious  impression  stamped,  by 
God  Himself,  upon  unconscious  nature.  On  the  other  hand, 
every  appearance  of  an  interposing  priest  or  enchanter  in 
the  domain  of  religion  fetters  the  human  spirit,  in  a  chain 
which  presses  the  more  woefully  the  more  the  piety  in- 
creases in  fervor.  In  the  Church  of  Rome,  even  at  the 
present  day,  the  dons  catholiques  are  most  closely  confined 
in  the  fetters  of  the  clerus.  Only  the  Catholic  whose 
piety  has  decreased,  is  able  to  secure  for  himself  a  partial 
liberty  by  loosening  more  than  half-way,  the  tie  which 
connects  him  with  his  church.  In  the  Lutheran  churches 
the  clerical  fetters  are  less  confining,  y%t  far  from  being 
loosened,  entirely.  And  only  in  churches  which  take  their 
stand  in  Calvinism,  do  we  find  that  spiritual  independence 
which  enables  the  believer  to  oppose,  if  need  be,  and  for 
God's  sake,  even  the  most  powerful  office-bearer  in  his 
church.  Only  he  who  personally  stands  before  God  on  his 
own  account,  and  enjoys  an  uninterrupted  communion  with 
God,  can  properly  display  the  glorious  wings  of  liberty. 
And  both  in  Holland  and  in  France,  in  England  as  well 
as  in  America,  the  historic  result  affords  most  undeniable 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  despotism  has  found  no  more 
invincible  antagonist,  and  liberty  of  conscience  no  braver, 
no  more  resolute  champions  than  the  followers  of  Calvin. 
In  the  last  analysis,  the  cause  of  this  phenomenon  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  effect  of  every  clerical  interposition  in- 
variably was,  and  must  be,  to  make  religion  external  and 
to  smother  it  with  sacerdotal  forms.  Only  where  all  priestly 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  II 


intervention  disappears,  where  God's  sovereign  election  binds 
the  inward  soul  directly  to  God  Himself,  and  the  ray  of 
divine  light  enters  straightway  into  the  depth  of  our  heart, 
only  there  does  religion,  in  its  most  absolute  sense,  gain 
its  ideal  realization. 


This  leads  me,  naturally,  to  the  third  religious  question : 
Is  religion  partial,  or  is  it  all-subduing,  and  comprehen- 
sive, — universal  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  ?  Now,  if 
the  aim  of  religion  is  found  in  man  himself  and  its  realization 
is  made  dependent  on  clerical  mediators,  religion  cannot 
be  but  partial.  In  that  case  it  follows  logically  that  every 
man  confines  his  religion  to  those  occurrences  of  his  life 
by  which  his  religious  needs  are  stirred,  and  to  those  cases 
in  which  he  finds  human  intervention  at  his  disposal.  The 
partial  character  of  this  sort  of  religion  shows  itself  in 
three  particulars:  in  the  religious  on/an  through  which,  in 
the  sphere  in  which,  and  in  the  group  of  persons  among 
which  religion  thrives  and  flourishes. 

Recent  controversy  affords  a  pertinent  illustration  of 
the  first  limitation.  The  wise  men  of  our  generation 
maintain  that  religion  has  to  retire  from  the  precinct  of 
the  human  intellect.  It  must  seek  to  express  itself  either 
by  means  of  the  mystical  feelings,  or  else  by  means  of 
the  practical  will.  Mystical  and  ethical  inclinations  are 
hailed  with  enthusiasm,  in  the  domain  of  religion,  but  in 
that  same  domain  the  intellect,  as  leading  to  metaphysical 
hallucinations  must  be  muzzled.  Metaphysics  and  Dog- 
matics are  increasingly  tabooed,  and  Agnosticism  is  ever 
more  loudly  acclaimed  as  the  solution  of  the  great  enigma. 
On  the  rivers  of  sentiment  and  of  feeling,  navigation  is 
made  duty-free;  and  ethical  activity  is  becoming  the  only 
touch-stone  for  testing  the  religious  gold;  but  Metaphysics 
are  avoided  as  drowning  us  in  a  swamp.  Whatsoever 
announces  itself  with  the  pretension  of  an  axiomatic  dogma, 


CALVINISM    AND    RELieiON.  12 

is  rejected  as  irreligious  contraband.  And  although  that 
same  Christ  Whom  these  very  scholars  honour  as  a  religious 
genius  has  taught  us  most  emphatically :  ''Thou  shalt  love 
God,  not  only  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  strength, 
but  also  with  all  thy  mind",  }ret  they,  on  the  contrary, 
venture  to  dismiss  our  mind,  or  intellect,  as  unfit  for  use, 
in  this  holy  domain,  and  as  not  fulfilling  the  requirements 
of  a  religious  organ.  Thus  the  religious  organ  being  found, 
not  in  the  whole  of  our  being,  but  partially,  being  confined 
to  our  feelings  and  our  will,  consequently  also  the  sphere 
of  religious  life  must  assume  the  same  partial  character . 
Tieligion  was  excluded  from  science,  and  its  authority 
from  the  domain  of  public  life;  henceforth  the  inner  chamber, 
the  cell  for  prayer,  and  the  secrecy  of  the  heart  should  be 
its  exclusive  dwelling  place.  By  his  du  solid,  Kant  limited 
the  sphere  of  religion  to  the  ethical  life.  The  mystics  of 
our  own  times  banish  religion  to  the  retreats  of  sentiment, 
and  the  result  is  that,  in  many  different  ways,  religion, 
once  the  central  force  of  human  life,  is  now  placed  alongside 
of  it,  and  far  from  the  thriving  of  the  world,  is  understood 
to  hide  itself  in  a  distant  and  almost  private  retreat. 

This  brings  us  naturally  to  the  third  characteristic  note  of 
this  partial  view  of  religion; — religion  as  pertaining  not  to 
all,  but  only  to  the  group  of  pious  people  among  our  generation. 
Thus  the  limitation  of  the  organ  of  religion  brings  about 
the  limitation  of  its  sphere,  and  the  limitation  of  its  sphere 
consequently  brings  about  the  limitation  of  its  group  or 
circle  among  men.  Just  as  art  is  understood  to  have  an 
organ  of  its  own,  a  sphere  of  its  own,  and  therefore,  also, 
its  own  circle  of  devotees,  so  also,  according  to  this  view . 
must  it  be  with  religion.  Tt  so  happens  that  the  great 
bulk  of  the  people  are  almost  devoid  of  mystical  feeling, 
and  energetic  strength  of  will.  For  this  reason  they  have 
either  no  perception  of  the  glow  of  mysticism,  or  are  in- 
capable of  realty  pious  deeds.  But  there  are  also  those  whose 
inner  life  is  overflowing  with  a  sense  of  the  Infinite,  or  who 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  13 

are  full  of  holy  energy,  and  among  such  it  is  that  piety  and 
religion  flourish  most  brilliantly  both  in  their  imaginative 
power,  and  in  their  realizing  capability.  —  From  a  quite 
different  standpoint,  Rome  gradually  and  increasingly  came 
to  favour  the  same  partial  views.  She  knew  religion  only 
as  it  existed  in  her  own  church,  and  considered  the 
influence  of  religion  to  be  confined  to  that  portion  of  life 
which  she  had  consecrated.  I  fully  acknowledge  that  she 
tried  to  draw  all  human  life  as  far  as  possible  into  the 
holy  sphere,  but  everything  outside  this  sphere,  everything 
not  touched  by  baptism,  nor  aspersed  by  her  holy  water,  was 
devoid  of  all  genuine  religious  efficiency.  And  just  as  Rome 
drew  a  boundary  line  between  the  consecrated  and  the  profane 
sides  of  life,  she  also  subdivided  her  own  sacred  precincts 
according  to  different  degrees  of  religious  intensity ;— the 
clergy  and  the  cloisters  constituting  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
the  pious  laity  forming  the  Holy  Place,  thus  leaving  the 
Outer  Court  to  those  who,  although  baptized,  continued  to 
prefer  to  church-devotion  the  often  sinful  pleasures  of  the 
world; — a  system  of  limitation  and  division,  which  for 
those  in  the  Outer  Court,  ended  in  setting  nine  tenths  of 
practical  life  outside  of  all  religion.  So  religion  was  made 
partial,  by  carrying  it  from  ordinary  days  to  days  of 
festival,  from  days  of  prosperity  to  times  of  danger  and 
sickness,  and  from  the  fulness  of  life  to  the  time  of  ap- 
proaching death.  A  dualistic  system  which  has  found 
its  most  emphatic  expression  in  the  praxis  of  the  Carnival, 
giving  Religion  a  full  -way  over  the  soul  during  the  weeks 
of  Lent,  but  leaving  to  the  flesh  a  fair  chance,  before 
descending  into  this  vale  of  gloom,  to  empty  to  the  dregs 
the  full  cup  of  pleasure,  if  not  of  mirth  and  folly. 

Now  this  whole  view  of  the  matter  is  squarely  antagonized 
by  Calvinism,  which  vindicates  for  religion  its  full  universal 
character,  and  its  complete  universal  application.  If  every- 
thing that  is  exists  for  the  sake  of  God,  then  it  follows 
that  the  whole  creation  must  give  glory  to  Cod.  The  sun. 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  14 

moon,  and  stars  in  the  firmament,  the  birds  of  the  air,  the 
whole  of  Nature  around  us,  but,  above  all,  man  himself, 
who,  priestlike,  must  consecrate  to  God  the  whole  of  crea- 
tion, and  all  life  thriving  in  it.  And  although  sin  has 
deadened  a  large  part  of  creation  to  the  glory  of  God, 
the  demand, — the  ideal-remains  unchangeable,  that  every 
creature  must  be  immersed  in  the  stream  of  religion,  and 
end  by  lying  as  a  religious  offering  on  the  altar  of  the 
Almighty.  A  religion  confined  to  feeling  or  will  is  there- 
fore unthinkable  to  the  Calvinist.  The  sacred  anointing  of 
the  priest  of  creation  must  reach  down  to  his  beard  and  to 
the  hem  of  his  garment.  His  whole  being,  including  all 
his  abilities  and  powers,  must  be  pervaded  by  the  sensus 
divinitatis,  and  how  then  could  he  exclude  his  rational  con- 
sciousness,— the  Xoyoi  which  is  in  him, — the  light  of  thought 
which  comes  from  God  Himself  to  irradiate  him?  To  possess 
his  God  for  the  underground  world  of  his  feelings,  and  in 
the  outworks  of  the  exertion  of  his  will,  but  not  in  his 
inner  self,  in  the  very  centre  of  his  consciousness,  and 
his  thought:  — to  have  fixed  starting-points  for  the  study 
of  nature  and  axiomatic  strongholds  for  practical  life,  but 
to  have  no  fixed  support  in  his  thoughts  about  the  Creator 
Himself,  all  of  this  was,  for  the  Calvinist.  the  veiy  denying 
of  the  Eternal  Logos.  The  same  character  of  universality 
was  claimed  by  the  Calvinist  for  the  sphere  of  religion  and 
its  circle  of  influence  among  men.  Everything  that  has  been 
created  was,  in  its  creation,  furnished  by  God  with  an  un- 
changeable law  of  its  existence.  And  because  God  has  fully 
ordained  such  laws  and  ordinances  for  all  life,  therefore 
He  demands  that  all  life  be  consecrated  to  His  service,  in 
strict  obedience.  A  religion  confined  to  the  closet,  the  cell, 
or  the  Church,  therefore,  Calvin,  and  with  him  every  Calvinist, 
abhors.  With  the  Psalmist,  he  calls  upon  heaven  and  earth, 
he  calls  upon  all  peoples  and  nations  to  give  glory  to 
God.  God  is  present  in  all  life,  with  the  influence  of  His 
omnipresent  and  almighty  power,  and  no  sphere  of  human 


CALVINISM   AND   RELIGION.  15 


life  is  conceivable  in  which  religion  does  not  maintain  its 
demands  that   God   shall  be  praised,  that  God's  ordinances 
shall  be  observed,  and  that  every  labora  shall  be  permeated 
with    its    ora   in   fervent   and  ceaseless  prayer.     Wherever 
man  may  stand,  whatever  he  may  do,  to  whatever  be  may 
apply  his  hand,  in  agriculture,  in  commerce,  and  in  industry. 
or    his    mind,    in    tbe    world  of  art.  and  science,  he  is.  in 
whatsoever  it  may  be,  constantly  standing  before  tbe  fare 
of  his    God,   he  is  employed  in  the  service  of  his  God,  be 
has  strictly  to  obey  bis  God,  and  above  all,  he  has  to  aim 
at  the  glory  of  his  God.    Consequently,  it  is  impossible  for 
a  ( 'alvinist  to  confine  religion  to  a  single  group,  or  to  some 
circles    among    men.     Religion    concerns  the  whole  of  our 
human    race.     This    race    is  the  product  of  God's  creation. 
It    is  His  wonderful  workmanship,  His  absolute  possession. 
Therefore  the  whole  of  mankind  must  be  imbued  with  the 
fear  of  God, — old  as  well  as  young, — low  as  well  as  high, 
not  only  those  who  have  become  initiated  into  His  mysteries, 
but  also  those  who  still  stand  afar  off.  For  not  only  did  God 
create    all    men,    not    only   is  He  all  for  all  men,  but  His 
grace  also  extends  itself,  not  only  as  a  special  grace,  to  the 
Elect,  but  also  as  a  common  grace  (gratia  communis),  to  all 
mankind.  To  be  sure  there  is  a  concentration  of  religious  light 
and  life  in  the  Church,  but  then  in  the  walls  of  this  church, 
there  are  wide  open  windows,  and  through  these  spacious  win- 
dows the  light  of  the  Eternal  radiates  over  the  whole  world. 
Here   is  a  city,  set  upon  a  hill,  which  every  man  can  see  afar 
off.— Here  is  a  holy  salt  that  penetrates  in  every  direction, 
checking  all  corruption.  And  even  he  who  does  not  yet  imbibe 
the    higher  light,  or  maybe  shuts  his  eyes  to  it,  is  never- 
theless admonished,  with  equal  emphasis,  and  in  all  things, 
to  give  glory  to  the  name  of  the  Lord.  All  partial  religion 
drives  the  wedge  of  dualism  into  life/but  the  true  ('alvinist 
never    forsakes    the    standard    of   religious    monism.     One 
supreme    calling  must  impress  the  stamp  of  one-ness  upon 
all    human  life,  because  one  God  upholds  and  preserves  it, 


CALVINISM    AMD    RELIGION.  16 

just  as  He  created  it  all.  Yea,  even  sin,  the  utter  and 
absolute  reverse  of  religion,  cannot  be  excluded  from  the 
monism  of  His  Providence.  The  ego  of  God  sets  the  crea- 
tion as  the  non-ego  over  against  Him,  and  when  this 
non-ego,  in  the  case  of  man,  developes  into  a  contra-ego  it 
will  be  found  that,  in  the  gloomy  way  of  sin  and  misery . 
even  the  painful  severance  from  God  shall  kindle  the  most 
ardent  longing  for  His  renewed  Communion. 


This  brings  us,  without  any  further  transition,  to  our  fourth 
main  question,  viz.,  Must  religion  be  normal,  or  soteriologicaV\ 
I  am  aware  that  the  nomistic  conception  of  religion  is  usually 
considered  as  the  opposite  of  the  soteriological,  but  this  latter 
distinction  belongs  to  another  order  of  conceptions.  The  dis- 
tinction which  I  have  in  mind  here  is  concerned  with  the  ques- 
tion whether  in  the  matter  of  religion  we  must  reckon  de  facto 
with  man  in  his  present  condition  as  normal,  or  as  having 
fallen  into  sin,  and  having  therefore  become  abnormal '.  In 
the  latter  case  religion  must  necessarily  assume  a  soterio- 
logical character.  Now  the  prevailing  idea,  at  present, 
favours  the  view  that  religion  has  to  start  from  man  as 
being  normal.  Not  of  course  as  though  our  race  as  a  whole 
should  conform  already  to  the  highest  religious  norm. 
This  nobody  affirms.  Everyone  knows  better  than  to 
make  such  an  absurd  statement.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
meet  with  much  irreligiousness,  and  imperfect  religious 
development  continues  to  be  the  rule.  But  precisely  in 
this  slow  aud  gradual  progress  from  the  lowest  forms  to 
the  highest  ideals,  the  development  demanded  h\  this 
normal  view  of  religion  contends  that  it  has  found  confir- 
mation. According  to  this  view,  the  first  traces  of  religion 
are  found  in  animals.  They  are  seen  in  the  dog  who  adores 
his  master,  aud  as  the  homo  sapiens  developes  out  of  the 
Chimpanzee,  so  religion  only  enters  upon  a  higher  stage. 
Since   that   time  religion  has  passed  through  all  the  notes 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  17 

of  the  gamut.  At  present  it  is  engaged  in  loosening 
itself  from  the  hands  of  Church  and  dogma,  to  pass 
on  to  what  is  again  considered  a  higher  stage,  namely, 
the  unconscious  feeling  for  the  Unknown  Infinite — This  whole 
theory  is  opposed  by  that  other  and  entirely  different 
theory,  which,  without  denying  the  preformation  of  so  much 
that  is  human,  in  the  animal,  or  the  fact  that  (if  you  will 
allow  me  to  say  so)  auimals  were  created  after  the  image  of 
man,  just  as  man  was  created  after  the  image  of  God,  never- 
theless maintains  that  the  first  man  was  created  in  perfect 
relations  to  his  God.  i.e.  as  imbued  by  a  pure  and  genuine 
religion,  and  consequently  explains  the  many  low,  imperfect 
and  absurd  forms  of  religion  found  in  Paganism,  not  as 
the  result  of  his  creation  but  as  the  result  of  his  Fall. 
These  low  and  imperfect  forms  of  religion  their  second 
theory  understands  not  as  a  process  that  leads  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher,  but  as  a  lamentable  degeneration,— a 
degeneration,  which,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  makes  the 
restoration  of  the  true  religion  possible  only  in  the 
soteriological  way.  Now  in  the  choice  between  these  two 
theories  Calvinism  allows  no  hesitation.  Standing  himself, 
with  this  question,  too,  before  the  face  of  God,  the 
Calvinist  is  so  impressed  with  the  holiness  of  God  that 
the  consciousness  of  guilt  immediately  lacerates  his  soul, 
and  the  terrible  nature  of  sin  presses  on  his  heart  as 
with  an  intolerable  weight.  Every  attempt  to  explain 
sin,  as  an  incomplete  stage  on  the  way  to  perfection, 
arouses  his  wrath,  as  an  insult  to  the  majesty  of  God.  He 
confessed,  from  the  beginning,  the  same  truth  which  Buckle 
has  demonstrated  empirically  in  his  "History  of  Civilization 
in  England",  viz.  that  the  forms  in  which  sin  makes  its 
appearance  may  show  us  a  gradual  refinement  but  the  moral 
condition  of  the  human  heart,  as  such,  has  remained  the 
same  throughout  all  the  centuries.  To  the  de  profundis 
with  which,  thirty  centuries  ago,  the  soul  of  David  cried 
unto   God,   the    troubled  soul  of  every  child  of  God  in  the 


CALVINISM   AND    RELIGION.  18 


sivteentb  century  still  sounded  a  response  with  undi- 
minished power.  The  conception  of  the  corruption  of  sin  as 
the  source  of  all  human  misery  was  nowhere  more  profound 
than  in  Calvin's  environment.  Even  in  the  assertions  which 
the  Calvinist  made,  in  accordance  with  Holy  Scripture, 
concerning  Hell  and  damnation,  there  is  no  coarseness,  no 
rudeness,  hut  only  that  clearness  which  is  the  result  of  the 
utmost  seriousness  of  life,  and  the  undaunted  courage  of  a 
deeprooted  conviction  of  the  holiness  of  the  most  High.  Did 
not  He,  from  Whose  lips  flowed  the  most  tender,  and  the 
most  winning  words, — did  not  He,  Himself  also  speak  most 
decidedly  and  repeatedly  of  an  "outer  darkness*',  of  a 
"fire  that  cannot  he  quenched",  of  a  "worm  that  dieth 
not"?  And  in  this.  also.  Calvin  was  right,  for  to  refuse 
to  assent  to  these  words  is  nothing  but  a  lack  of  thorough- 
going consistency.  It  shews  a  want  of  sincerity  in  our 
confession  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  of  the  destructive  power 
of  sin.  And  on  the  contary,  in  this  spiritual  experience  of 
sin,  in  this  empirical  consideration  of  the  misery  of  life, 
in  this  lofty  impression  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  in  this 
staunchness  of  his  convictions,  which  led  him  to  follow 
his  conclusions  to  the  bitter  end,  the  Calvinist  found  the 
roots  of  the  necessity  first  of  regeneration,  for  real  existence, 
and  secondly,  the  necessity  of  Revelation  for  clear  consciousness. 
Now  my  subject  does  not  induce  me  to  speak  in  detail  of 
regeneration,  as  that  immediate  act  b}-  which  God,  as  it 
were,  sets  right  again  the  crooked  wheel  of  life.  But  it  is 
necessary  that  I  say  a  few  words  concerning  Revelation, 
and  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Very  improperly, 
the  Scriptures  have  been  represented,  by  Schweizer  and 
others,  as  only  the  formal  principle  of  the  Reformed  con- 
fession. The  conception  of  genuine  Calvinism  lies  much 
deeper.  The  meaning  of  Calvin  was  expressed  in  what  he 
called  the  necessitas  S.  Script  tirae;  i.  e.  the  need  of  Scriptural 
revelation.  This  necessitas  8.  S.  was  for  Calvin  the 
unavoidable  expression  for  the  all-dominating  authority  of 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  19 

the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  even  now  it  is  this  very 
dogma  which  enables  us  to  understand  why  it  is  that 
the  Calvinist  of  to-day  considers  the  critical  analysis  and 
the  application  of  the  critical  solvent  to  the  Scriptures  as 
tantamount  to  an  abandoning  of  Christianity  itself.  In 
Paradise,  before  the  Fall,  there  was  no  Bible,  and  there 
will  be  no  Bible  in  the  future  Paradise  of  glory.  "When 
the  transparent  light,  kindled  by  Nature,  addresses  us 
directly,  and  the  inner  word  of  God  sounds  in  our  heart 
in  its  original  clearness,  and  all  human  words  are  sincere, 
and  the  function  of  our  inner  ear  is  perfectly  performed, 
why  should  we  need  a  Bible?  What  Mother  loses  herself 
in  a  treatise  upon  the  "love  of  our  children"  the  very 
moment  that  her  own  clear  ones  are  playing  about  her 
knee,  and  God  allows  her  to  drink  in  their  love  with 
full  draughts?  But,  in  our  present  condition,  this  immediate 
communion  with  God  by  means  of  nature,  and  of  our 
own  heart  is  lost.  Sin  brought  separation  instead,  and 
the  opposition  which  is  manifest  nowadays,  against  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  based  on  nothing  else 
than  the  false  supposition  that,  our  condition  being  still 
normal,  our  religion  need  not  be  soteriological.  For  of 
course,  in  that  case,  the  Bible  is  not  wanted,  it  becomes, 
indeed,  a  hindrance,  and  grates  upon  your  feelings,  since 
it  intercedes  a  book  between  God  and  your  heart.  For 
what  husband  corresponds  with  his  wife  by  writ,  while 
she  is  sitting  at  the  family  table,  beside  him?  Oral  com- 
munication excludes  writing.  But  like  the  ocean,  the  cm-rent 
of  religion  has  its  periods  of  high  tide  and  low  tide;  and  in 
our  days  this  tide  is  low,  just  as,  in  the  days  of  our  fathers 
it  was  high.  Hence  it  is  that  the  sense  of  sin  is  so  feeble 
in  our  hearts,  and  that  conditions  which,  in  times  of  great 
religious  activity,  every  pious  man  felt  as  abnormal  and 
degenerate,  are  now  considered  normal  and  proper.  When 
the  sun  shines  in  your  house,  bright  and  clear,  you  turn 
off  the    electric  light,  but  when  the  sun  disappears,  below 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  20 

the  horizon,  you  feel  the  necessitas  luminis  artificiosi,  and 
the  artificial  light  is  kindled  in  every  dwelling.  Now  this 
is  the  case  in  matters  of  religion.  When  there  are  no 
mists  to  hide  the  majesty  of  >  the  divine  light  from  our 
eves,  what  need  is  there  then  for  a  lamp  unto  the  feet, 
or  a  light  upon  the  path  ?  But  when  history,  experience 
and  consciousness  all  unite  in  stating  the  fact  that  the  light 
of  Heaven  has  disappeared,  and  that  we  are  groping  about 
in  the  dark,  then,  a  different,  or  if  you  will,  an  artificial 
light  must  be  kindled  for  us;— and  such  a  light  God  has 
kindled  for  us  in  His  Holy  Word. 

For  the  Calvinist,  therefore,  the  necessity  of  the  Holy 
Sriptures  does  not  rest  in  ratiocination,  but  on  the  immediate 
testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — on  the  testimonium  spiritus 
Saudi.  His  insight  into  inspiration  is  the  product  of  bis- 
torical  deduction,  and  so  is  also  every  canonical  declar- 
ation of  the  Scriptures.  But  the  magnetic  power  with  which 
the  Scripture  influences  his  soul,  and  draws  it  to  itself, 
just  as  the  magnet  draws  t he  steel,  is  not  derived,  but 
immediate.  All  of  this  takes  place  in  a  manner,  which,  is 
not  magical,  nor  unfathomably  mystical,  but  clear,  and 
easy  to  be  understood.  God  regenerates  us, — that  is  to 
say  he  rekindles  in  our  heart  the  lamp  sin  had  blown  out. 
The  necessary  consecpience  of  this  regeneration  is  an  irre- 
conciliable  conflict  between  the  inner  world  of  our  heart 
and  the  world  outside,  and  this  conflict  is  ever  the  more 
intensified  the  more  the  regeneration  principle  pervades 
our  consciousness.  Now,  in  the  Bible,  God  reveals,  to  the 
regenerate,  a  world  of  thought,  a  world  of  energies,  a 
world  of  full  and  beautiful  life,  which  stands  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  his  ordinary  world,  but  which  proves  to  agree  in 
a  wonderful  way  with  the  new  life  that  has  sprung  up  in 
his  heart.  So  the  regenerate  begins  to  guess  the  identity 
of  what  is  stirring  in  the  depth  of  his  own  soul,  and  of 
what  is  revealed  to  him  in  Scripture,  thereby  learning 
both  the  inanity  of  the  world  around  him.  and  the  divine 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  21 

reality  of  the  world  of  the  Scriptures,  and  as  soon  as  this 
has  become  a  certainty  to  him,  he  has  personally  received 
the  testimony  of  the  Hohj  Spirit.  Everything  that  is  in  him 
thirsted  for  the  Father  of  all  Lights  and  Spirits.  Outside 
the  Scripture,  he  discovered  only  vague  shadows.  But  now 
as  he  looks  upward,  through  the  prism  of  the  Scriptures, 
he  rediscovers  his  Father  and  his  God.  For  this  reason  he 
puts  no  shackles  on  science.  If  a  man  wants  to  criticize, — 
let  him  criticize.  Such  criticism  even  holds  the  promise 
that  it  will  deepen  our  own  insight  into  the  structure  of 
the  scriptural  edifice.  Only  no  Calvinist  ever  allows  the 
critic  to  dash  out  of  his  hand,  for  a  moment,  the  prism 
itself  which  broke  up  the  divine  ray  of  light  into  its  brilliant 
tints  and  colours.  No  appeal  to  the  grace  bestowed  inwardly, 
no  pointing  to  the  fruits  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  can  enable 
him  to  dispense  with  the  necessitas  which  the  soteriological 
standpoint  of  religion  among  sinners  carries  with  it.  As 
mere  entities  we  share  our  life  with  plants  and  animals. 
Unconscious  life  we  share  with  the  children,  and  with  the 
sleeping  man,  and  even  with  the  man  who  has  lost  his 
reason.  That  which  distinguishes  us,  as  higher  beings,  and 
as  wide  awake  men  is  our  full  self-consciousness,  and  there- 
fore, if  religion,  as  the  highest  vital  function,  is  to  operate 
also  in  that  highest  sphere  of  self-consciousness,  it  must 
follow  that  soteriological  religion  next  to  the  necessitas 
of  inward  palingenesis  demands  also  the  necessitas  of  an 
assistant  light  of  revelation  to  be  kindled  in  our  twilight. 
And  this  assistant  light,  coming  from  God  Himself,  but 
handed  to  us  by  human  agency,  beams  upon  us  in 
His  holy  Word. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  our  investigations  thus  far, 
I  may  express  my  conclusion  as  follows.  In  each  one  of 
the  four  great  problems  of  religion,  Calvinism  has  expressed 
its  conviction  in  an  appropriate  dogma,  and  each  time  has 
made  that  choice  which  even  now,  after  three  centuries, 
satisfies   the    most   ideal    wants,    and  leaves  the  way  open 


CALVINISM    ANT)    RELIGION. 


for  an  ever  richer  development.  First,  it  regards  religion, 
not  in  an  utilarian,  or  eudaimonistic  sense,  as  existing 
for  the  sake  of  man,  but  for  God,  and  for  God  alone.  This 
is  its  dogma  of  God's  sovereignty.  Secondly  In  religion 
there  must  be  no  intermediation  of  any  creature  between 
God  and  the  soul; — all  religion  is  the  immediate  work  of 
God  Himself,  in  the  inner  heart.  This  is  the  doctrine  of 
Election.  Thirdly,  religion  is  not  partial  but  universal : 
—this  is  the  dogma  of  common  or  universal  grace.  And, 
finally,  in  our  sinful  condition,  religion  cannot  be  normal, 
but  has  to  be  soteriological ; — this  is  its  position  in  the 
twofold  dogma  of  the  necessity  of  regeneration,  and  of  the 
necessitas  S.  Scripturae. 


Having  considered  Religion  as  such,  and  coming  now  to 
tin-  Church,  as  its  organized  form,  or  its  phenomenal 
appearance,  I  shall  present,  in  successive  stages,  the  Calvi- 
nistic  conception  of  the  essence,  the  manifestation  and  the 
purpose  of  the  Church  of  Christ  upon  earth. 

In  its  essence,  for  the  Calvinist,  the  Church  is  a  spiritual 
organism,  including  Heaven  and  earth,  but  having  at 
present,  its  centre,  and  the  starting-point  for  its  action,  not 
upon  earth,  but  in  Heaven.  This  is  thus  to  be  understood: 
God  created  the  Cosmos  geocentrically,  i.  e.  He  placed  the 
spiritual  centre  of  this  Cosmos  on  our  planet,  and  caused  all 
the  divisions  of  the  kingdom  of  nature,  on  this  earth,  to 
culminate  in  man,  upon  whom,  as  the  bearer  of  His  image 
He  called  to  consecrate  the  Cosmos  to  His  glory. 
In  God's  creation,  therefore,  man  stands  as  the  prophet 
priest  and  king,  and  although  sin  has  disturbed 
these  high  designs,  yet  God  pushes  them  onward.  He  so 
loves  His  world  that  He  has  given  Himself  to  it,  in  the 
person  of  His  Son,  and  thus  He  has  again  brought  our 
race  and  through  our  race.  His  whole  Cosmos,  into  a 
renewed    contact    with    eternal    life.     To    be    sure,    many 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  23 

branches   and   leaves    off  the  tree  of  the  human  race  shall 
fall  away,   yet   the  tree    itself  shall   be  saved ;  on  its  new- 
root  in  Christ,  it  shall  once  more   blossom  gloriously.  For 
regeneration    does    not    save    a    few     isolated    individuals, 
finally  to  be  joined  together  mechanically  as  an  aggregate 
heap ;  Regeneration  saves  the  organism,  itself,  of  our  race. 
And  therefore  all  regenerate  human  life,  forms  one  organic 
body,    of  which    Christ  is  the  Head,  and   whose    members 
are    bound    together    by   their    mystical    union  with  Him. 
But  not  before  the  Parousia,  shall  this  new   all-embracing 
organism  manifest  itself  as  the  centre  of  the  cosmos;  at  present 
it  is  hidden.     Here,   on  earth    it    is    only    as    it   were  its 
silliouet      that    can    be    dimly    discerned.     In    the    Future, 
fhi*  new  Jerusalem  shall  descend    from  God,  out  of  Heaven, 
but   at  present  it  withdraws    its    beams  from  our  sight  in 
the  mysteries  of  the  invisible.  And  therefore  the  true  sanc- 
tuary    is    now    above;  —  on    high    are    both    the    Altar     of 
Atonement,   and  the  incense  Altar  of  Prayer;  and  on  high 
is  Christ,  as  the  only  priest  who,  according  to  MelchizedekV 
ordinance,  ministers  at  the  Altar,  in  the  sanctuary,  before  God. 
Now,  in  the  middle  ages,  the  Church  had  more  and  more 
lost  sight  of  this  heavenly  spiritual  character;— she  had  beco- 
me worldly  in  her  nature.  The  Sanctuary  was  again  brought 
back    to    earth,    the    Altar    was    rebuilt    of   stone,    and    a 
priestly  hierarchy  had  reconstituted  itself  for  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  Altar.     Next  of  course    it   was  necessary  also 
to   renew   the  tangible  sacrifice  on  earth,    and  this  at  last 
brought    the   church   to    inveut    the  unbloody    offering    of 
the   Mass.    Now    against  all  this,  Calvinism  opposed  itself, 
not  to  contend  against  priesthood  on  principle,  or  against 
altars    as    such,    or  against  sacrifice   in  itself,  because    the 
office   of  priest    cannot  perish,  and  everyone  knowing  the 
fact   of  sin   realizes  in  his  own  heart,  the   absolute  need 
of   a   propitiatory    sacrifice,  but  in  order  to  do  away  with 
all  this  worldly  paraphernalia,  and  to  call  believers  to  lift 
up  their  eyes  again,  on  high,  to  the  real  sanctuary,  where 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  04 


Christ,  our  only  priest,  ministers  at  the  only  real  altar. 
The  battle  was  waged,  not  against  the  sacerdotmm,  but 
against  the  sacerdotalism,  and  Calvin  alone  fought  this 
battle  through  to  the  end,  with  thorough  .consistency. 
Lutherans  and  Episcopalians  rebuilt  a  kind  of  altar,  on 
earth;  Calvinism  alone  dared  to  put  it  away,  entirely. 
Consequently,  among  the  Episcopalians,  the  earthly  priest- 
hood was  retained,  even  in  the  form  of  a  hierarchy : 
in  Lutheran  lands  the  sovereign  became  summits  episcopus 
and  the  divisions  of  ecclesiastical  ranks  were  maintained; 
but  Calvinism  proclaimed  the  absolute  equality  of  all  who 
engaged  in  the  service  of  the  church,  and  refused  to  as- 
cribe to  its  leaders  and  officebearers  any  other  character 
than  that  of  Ministers,  (i.e.  servants.)  That  which,  under 
the  shadows  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation,  furnished 
prophetical  and  visible  instruction,  now  that  the  types 
were  fulfilled,  had  become  to  Calvin,  a  detriment  to  the 
glory  of  Christ,  and  lowered  the  heavenly  nature  of  the 
Church.  Therefore,  Calvinism  could  not  rest  until  this 
worldly  tinsel  had  ceased  to  charm  and  attract  the  eye. 
Only  when  the  last  grain  of  the  sacerdotal  leaven  had 
been  eliminated,  could  the  Church  on  earth  again  become 
the  outer  court,  from  which  believers  could  look  up  and 
onward  to  the  real  sanctuary  of  the  living  God. 

The  Westminster  Confession  beautifully  ets  forth  this 
heavenly  all-embracing  nature  of  the  Church,  when  it  says  : 
— "The  Catholic  or  Universal  Church,  which  is  invisible, 
consists  of  the  whole  number  of  the  elect  that  have  been, 
are,  or  shall  be,  gathered  into  one,  under  Christ  the  Head, 
thereof;  and  is  the  spouse,  the  body,  the  fulness  of  Him 
that  filleth  all  in  all."  Only  thus  was  the  dogma  of  the 
invisible  church  religiously  consecrated  and  apprehended  in 
its  cosmological,  and  enduring  significance.  For,  of  course, 
the  reality  and  fulness  of  the  Church  of  Christ  cannot 
exist  on  earth.  Here  is  found,  at  most,  one  generation  of 
believers  at  a  time,  in  the  portal  of  the  Temple;— all  pre- 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  25 

vious  generations,  from  the  beginning  and  foundation  of 
the  world,  had  left  this  earth,  and  had  gone  up  on  high. 
Therefore,  those  who  remained  here,  were,  eo  ipso,  pilgrim*, 
meaning  thereby  that  they  were  marching  from  the  portal 
unto  the  Sanctuary  itself,  no  possibility  of  salvation  after 
death  being  left  for  those  who  had  not  been  united  to 
Christ,  during  this  present  life.  No  room  could  be  left  for 
masses  for  the  dead,  nor  for  a  call  to  repenteuce  on  the 
other  side  of  the  grave,  as  German  Theologians  are  now 
advocating.  For  all  such  processional,  and  gradual  transi- 
tions, were  regarded  by  Calvin  as  destroying  the  absolute 
contrast  between  the  essence  of  the  Church  in  Heaven, 
and  its  imperfect  form,  here  on  earth.  The  church  on  earth 
does  not  send  up  its  light  to  Heaven,  but  the  Church  in 
Heaven  must  send  its  light  down  to  the  Church  on  earth. 
There  is  now,  as  it  were,  a  curtain  stretched,  before  the 
eye,  which  hinders  it  from  penetrating  while  on  earth, 
into  the  real  essence  of  the  Church.  Therefore,  all  that 
remains  possible  to  us  on  earth  is  hist,  a  mystical  communion 
with  that  real  Church,  by  means  of  the  Spirit,  and  in  the 
second  place  the  enjoyment  of  the  shadows  which  are  dis- 
playing themselves  on  the  transparent  curtain  before  us. 
Accordingly,  no  child  of  God  should  imagine  that  the  real 
Church  is  here  on  earth,  and  that  behind  the  curtain  there 
is  only  an  ideal  product  of  our  imagination ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, he  has  to  confess  that  Christ  in  human  form,  in  our 
flesh,  has  entered  into  the  invisible,  behind  the  curtain; 
and  that,  with  Him,  around  Him,  and  in  Him,  our  Head, 
is  the  real  church,  the  real  and  essential  sauctuary  of  our 
salvation. 


After  having  thus  clearly  grasped  the  nature  of  the 
Church,  in  its  bearing  upon  the  re-creation  both  of  our 
human  race  and  of  the  Cosmos  as  a  whole,  let  us  now 
turn  our  attention  to  its  form  of  manifestation,  here  on  earth. 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  26 

As  such  it  displays,  unto  us,  different  congregations  of  believers, 
groups  of  confessors,  living  in  some  ecclesiastical  union,  in 
obedience  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ  Himself.  The  Church 
on  earth  is  not  an  institution  for  the  dispensation  of  grace, 
as  if  it  were  a  dispensary  of  spiritual  medicines.  There 
is  no  mystical,  spiritual  order,  gifted  with  mystical  powers 
to  operate  with  a  magical  influence  upon  laymen.  There  are 
only  regenerated  and  confessing  individuals,  who,  in  accordance 
with  the  Scriptural  command,  and  under  the  influence  of 
the  sociological  element  of  all  religion,  have  formed  a  so- 
ciety, and  are  endeavouring  to  live  together  in  subordina- 
tion to  Christ  as  their  king.  This,  alone,  is  the  Church  on 
earth,— not  the  building, — not  the  institution,— not  a  spiritual 
order.  For  Calvin,  the  Church  is  found  in  the  confessing 
individual*  themselves, — not  in  each  individual  separately,  but 
in  all  of  them  taken  together,  and  united,  not  as  they  them- 
selves see  fit,  but  according  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ.  In 
the  church  on  earth,  the  universal  priesthood  of  believers  must 
lie  realized.  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  do  not  say:  The 
Church  consists  of  pious  persons  united  in  groups  for  relig- 
ious purposes.  That,  in  itself,  would  have  nothing  in  common 
with  the  church.  The  real,  heavenly,  invisible  church  must 
manifest  itself  in  the  earthly  church.  If  not,  you  will 
have  a  society,  but  no  church.  Now  the  real,  essential  church 
is  and  remains  the  body  of  Christ,  of  which  regenerate  persons 
are  members.  Therefore  the  Church  on  earth  consists  only 
of  those  who  have  been  incorporated  into  Christ,  who  bow 
before  Him,  live  in  His  Word,  and  adhere  to  His  ordin- 
ances; and  for  this  reason  the  church  on  earth  has  to 
preach  the  Word,  administer  the  sacraments,  and  exercise 
discipline,  and  in  everything  to  stand  before  the  face  of  God.— 
This  at  the  same  time  determines  the  form  of  government  of 
this  church  on  earth.  This  government,  like  the  church 
itself,  originates  in  Heaven,  in  Christ.  He  most  effectually 
governs  His  church  by  means  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  whom 
He  works  in  His  members.  Therefore,  all  being  equal  under 


CALVINISM    AXD   RELIGION.  27 

Him,  there  can  be  no  distinctions  of  rank  among  believers; 
there  are  only  ministers,  who  serve,  lead  and  regulate;  a 
thoroughly  Presbyterian  form  of  government;  the  Church 
power  descending  directly  from  Christ  Himself,  into  the 
congregation,  ascending  from  the  congregation  to  the 
ministers,  and  by  them  being  administered  unto  the 
brethren.  So  the  sovereignty  of  Christ  remains  absolutely 
monarchical,  but  the  government  of  the  Church  on  earth 
becomes  democratic  to  its  bones  and  marrow;  a  system 
leading  logically  to  this  other  sequence,  that  all  believers 
and  all  congregations  being  of  an  equal  standing,  no  Church 
may  exercise  any  dominion  over  another,  but  that  all 
Churches  are  of  equal  rank,  and  as  manifestations  of  one 
and  the  same  body,  can  only  be  united  synod ically,  i.  e. 
by  way  of  confederation.  Now  let  me  draw  your  attention 
to  another  most  important  consequence  of  this  same  prin- 
ciple, viz.  to  the  multiformity  of  denominations  as  the 
necessary  result  of  the  differentiation  of  the  churches, 
according  to  the  different  degrees  of  their  purity.  If  the 
church  is  considered  to  be  an  institute  of  grace,  independent 
of  the  believers,  or  an  institute  in  which  a  hiearchical  priest 
hood  distributes  the  treasury  of  grace  entrusted  to  him, 
the  result  must  be  that  this  hierarchy  extends  itself  through 
all  nations  and  imparts  the  same  stamp  to  all  forms  of 
ecclesiastical  life.  But  if  the  church  consists  in  the  congregation 
of  believers,  if  the  churches  are  formed  by  the  union  of 
confessors,  and  are  united  only  in  the  way  of  confederation, 
then  the  differences  of  climate  and  of  nation,  of  historical 
past,  and  of  disposition  of  mind  come  in  to  exercise  a 
widely  variegating  influence,  and  multiformity  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters  must  be  the  result.  A  result,  therefore,  of 
very  far-reaching  importance,  because  it  annihilates  the 
absolute  character  of  every  visible  Church,  and  places  them 
all  side  by  side,  as  differing  in  degrees  of  purity,  but 
always  remaining  manifestations  of  one  holy  and  catholic- 
church  of  Christ  in   Heaven.    I  do  not   say  that  Calvinistic 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  28 

theologians  have  proclaimed  this  full  consequence  from  the 
beginning.     The    desire    for    ruling    power    lurked    also    at 
the     door    of    their    heart,    and    even     apart     from     this 
dangerous    disposition  it  was  right  and  natural  for  them 
theoretically  to  judge  each  church  according  to  the  stand- 
ard   of  their    own    ideals.     But  this  does  not  in  the  least 
detract  from  the  great  significance  of  the  fact  that  by  regard- 
ing  the    Church,    not  as  a  hierarchy  or  institution,  but  as 
the  gathering  of  individual  confessors,  they  started  for  the 
life  of  the  church,  as  well  as  for  the  life  of  the  state,  and 
civil    society,  from  the  principle  not  of  compulsion,  but  of 
liberty.     For,    of   course    by    virtue    of   this    starting-point 
there    was    no    other    church-power    superior    to    the  local 
churches,    save    only   what  the  churches  themselves  consti- 
tuted, by  means  of  their  confederation.    Hence  it  followed 
of  necessity  that  the  natural  and  historic  differences  between 
men  should   also,   wedgelike,  force  their  way  into  the  phe- 
nomenal life  of  the  church  upon  earth.  National  differences 
of  morals,  differences  of  disposition  and  of  emotions,  differ- 
ent degrees  in  depth  of  life  and  insight,  necessarily  resulted 
in    emphasizing    first    one,    and    then   another   side   of  the 
same  truth.    Hence  the  numerous  sects  and  denominations 
into    which    the    external    church-life    has   fallen  by  virtue 
of  this  principle.     So  on  our  side  there  are  denominations 
which    may    have    departed    from    the    rich    deep  and  Ml 
Calvinistic    Confession,    in    no    small    degree,  even  such  as 
bitterly    oppose    more   than  one  capital  article  of  our  con- 
fession;   yet    they    all    owe    their    origin    to  a  deep-rooted 
opposition    to    sacerdotalism,    and    to  the  acknowledgment 
of    the    church    as   the    '-congregation    of   believers,"    the 
truth    in    which    Calvinism  expressed  its  fundamental  con- 
ception.    And  although    this  fact  unavoidably  led  to  much 
unholy   rivalry,    and  even  to  sinful  errors  of  conduct ;  yet, 
after  an  experience  of  three    centuries  it  must  be  confessed 
that  this  multiformity,  which  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  fundamental  thought  of  Calvinism,  has  been  much  more 


CALVINISM    AXI>    RELIGION.  29 

favourable  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  religious  life  than 
the  compulsory  uniformity  in  which  Rome  sought  the  very 
basis  of  its  strength.  And  fruit  is  to  be  expected  more 
abundantly  still  in  the  future,  provided  only  that  the 
principle  of  ecclesiastical  liberty  does  not  degenerate  into 
indifference,  and  that  no  church,  which,  in  its  name  and 
confession  still  upholds  the  Calvinistic  banner,  omits  to 
fulfil  its  holy  mission  of  recommending  to  others  the 
superiority  of  its  principles. 

Still  another  point  must  be  brought  forward  in  this 
connection.  The  conception  of  the  Church  as  the  "congre- 
gation of  believers"  might  lead  to  the  conception  that  it 
included  the  believers  only,  without  their  children.  This, 
however,  is  by  no  means  the  teaching  of  Calvinism :  it- 
teaching  on  the  subject  of  infant  baptism  showing  quite 
the  contrary.  Believers  who  meet  together  do  not  thereby 
sever  the  natural  bond  that  binds  them  to  their  offspring. 
On  the  contrary,  they  consecrate  this  bond,  arid  by  baptism 
incorporate  their  children  in  the  communion  of  their  church, 
and  these  minors  are  kept  in  this  Church  communion  until, 
when  of  age,  they  become  themselves  confessors,  or  sever 
themselves  from  the  church  by  their  unbelief.  This  is  the 
so-important  Calvinistic  dogma  of  the  Covenant;  a  prominant 
article  of  our  confession,  showing  that  the  waters  of  the 
Church  do  not  flow  outside  the  natural  stream  of  human 
life,  but  cause  the  life  of  the  church  to  proceed  hand  in 
hand  with  the  natural  organic  reproduction  of  succeeding 
generations.  Covenant  and  Church  are  inseparable, — the 
covenant  binding  the  church  to  the  race,  and  God  Himself 
sealing  in  it  the  connection  between  the  life  of  grace,  and 
the  life  of  nature.  Of  course  Church  discipline  must  come 
in  here,  in  order  to  preserve  the  purity  of  this  Covenant 
as  soon  as  the  mutual  permeating  of  grace  by  nature  tends 
to  lower  the  purity  of  the  Church.  From  the  Calvinistic  viewT- 
point,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  of  a  nationalChurch, 
as  being  destined  to  embrace  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole 


CALVINISM   AND   RELIGION.  SO 

country.  A  national  Church,  i.  e.  a  church  comprising  only 
one  nation,  is  a  Heathen,  or  at  most,  a  Jewish  conception. 
The  Church  of  Christ  is  not  national  but  ecumenical.  No1 
one  single  state,  but  the  whole  world  is  its  domain.  And 
when  the  Lutheran  Reformers  at  the  instigation  of  their 
sovereigns,  nationalized  their  churches,  and  Calvinistic 
churches  allowed  themselves  to  deviate  in  the  same  track, 
they  did  not  ascend  to  a  higher  conception  than  that  of 
Rome's  world-church,  but  descended  to  distinctly  lower 
ground.  Happily  I  may  conclude  by  bearing  witness  that 
both  the  Synod  of  Dort,  and  the  not  less  venerable  West- 
minster Assembly,  have  honoured  again  the  ecumenical 
character  ofour  Reformed  Churches,  thereby  censuring  as 
unpardonable,  every  deviation  from  the  only  right  principle. 


Having  thus  far  given  an  outline  of  the  nature  of  the 
( 'liurch,  and  the  form  of  its  manifestation,  let  me  now  draw  your 
attention  in  the  last  place  to  the  purpose  of  its  appear- 
ance on  earth.  I  shall  not  say  anything  for  the  present 
on  the  separation  of  Church  and  state.  This  will  naturally 
find  place  in  the  next  Lecture.  At  present.  I  confine 
myself  to  the  purpose  that  has  been  assigned  to  the 
Church  in  its  pilgrimage  through  the  world.  That  purpose 
cannot  be  human— egoistic,  to  prepare  the  believer 
for  Heaven.  A  regenerate  child,  dying  in  the  cradle,  goes 
straight  to  Heaven,  without  any  further  preparation  and 
wheresoever  the  Holy  Ghost  has  kindled  the  spark  of 
Eternal  life  in  the  soul,  the  perseverance  of  the  saints 
assures  the  certainty  of  eternal  salvation.  Nay,  upon  earth 
also,  the  Church  xists  merely  for  the  sake  of  God. 
Regeneration  is  sufficient  for  the  elect  man,  to  make  him 
sure  of  his  eternal  destiny,  but  it  is  not  enough  to  satisfy, 
the  glory  of  God  in  His  work  among  men.  For  the  glory 
of  our  God  it  is  necessary  to  have  regeneration,  followed  by 
conversion,  and  to  this  conversion  the  Church  must  contribute, 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  31 


by  means  of  the  preaching  of  the  Word.  In  the  regenerate  man 
glows  the  spark,  but  only  in  the  converted  man  does  the  spark 
burst  into    a  blaze,  and  that  blaze  radiates  the  light  from 
the    church  into    the    world,  that,  according  to  our  Lord's 
commandment,    our    Father,    which    is  in  Heaven,  may  be 
glorified.  And  both  our  conversion  and  our  sanctification  in 
good  works  are  only  then  marked  by  the  lofty  character  which 
Jesus    demands,    when    we    make    them  serve,  in  the  first 
place,   not  the  guarantee  of  our  own  salvation,  but  rather 
the  glorifying  of  God.  In  the  second  place,  the  Church  must 
fan    this    blaze,    and  make  it  brighter,  by  the  communion 
of  the  saints  and  by  the  Sacraments.  Only  when  hundreds  of 
candles    are    burning    from    one    candelabrum,  can  the  full 
brightness    of    the    soft    candle-light    strike  us,  and  in  the 
same  way  it  is  the  communion  of  saints  which  has  to  unite 
the  many  small  lights  of  the  single  believers  so  that  they 
may  mutually  increase  their  brightness,  and  Christ,  walking 
in   the  midst  of  the  seven  candlesticks,  may  sacramentally 
purify  the  glow  of  their  brightness  to  a  still  more  brilliant 
fervour.     Thus    the    purpose  of  the  Church  does  not  lie  in 
us,  but  in  God,  and  in  the  glory  of  His  name. — From  this 
solemn   purpose   originates,  in  the  same  way,  the  severely 
spiritual    cultus    which    Calvinism    tried   te    restore  in  the 
services  of  the  Church.    Even  Von  Hartman,  the  far-from- 
Christian    philosopher,  perceived  that  cultus  becomes  more 
religious  just  in  proportion  as  it  has  the  courage  to  despise 
all   external    show,    and   the    energy  to  evolve   itself  from 
symbolism,   in    order   to   clothe  itself  in  beauty  of  a  much 
higher   order, — the    inward,    spiritual    beauty   of  the    wor- 
shipping soul.   Sensual  church  services  tend  to  soothe  and 
flatter  man  religiously,  and  only  the  purely  spiritual  service 
of  Calvinism  aims  at  the  pure  worship  of  God,  and  at  ador- 
ation  of  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. — The  same  tendency 
leads    our    church    discipline,   that    indispensible    element 
of  every  genuine  Calvinistic  church  activity.     Church  disci- 
pline was  also  instituted  in  the  first  place,  not  to  prevent 


CALVINISM   AND    RELIGION.  32 

scandals,  nor  even  primilarily  to  prune  the  wild  branches, 
but  rather  to  preserve  the  sanctity  of  the  Covenant  of  God,  and 
ever  to  impress  upon  the  outside  world  the  solemn  fact  that 
God  is  too  pure  to  look  upon  evil. — Finally  we  have  the 
service  of  Church  philanthropy,  in  the  Diaconate  which  Calvin 
alone  understood,  and  restored  to  its  primordial  honor. 
Neither  Rome  nor  the  Greek  Church,  neither  the  Lutheran 
nor  the  Episcopal  Church,  caught  the  real  meaning  of  the 
Diaconate.  Calvinism  alone  has  restored  the  Diaconate  to 
its  place  of  honor,  as  an  indispensable  and  constitutive 
element  of  ecclesiastical  life.  But.  in  this  Diaconate,  also, 
the  lofty  principle  must  prevail  that  it  may  not  glorify 
those  who  give  alms,  but  only  the  name  of  Him  who 
moves  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  liberality.  The  Deacons 
are  not  our  servants,  but  servants  of  Christ.  That  which 
we  commit  to  them  we  simply  give  back  to  Christ,  as 
stewards  of  what  is  His  property ;  and  in  His  name  it 
must  be  distributed  to  His  poor, — our  brothers  and  sister 
The  poor  church -member,  who  thanks  the  Deacon  and 
the  giver,  but  not  Christ,  actually  denies  Dim  who  is  the 
real  and  divine  Giver,  and  who  through  his  deacons,  pur- 
poses to  make  it  manifest  that  He  is  a  Savior,  not  for  the 
soul  alone,  but  also  for  the  body, — or  to  express  it  more 
pointedly,  that  for  the  whole  man,  and  for  the  whole  of 
life  He  is  the  Christus  Consolator,  the  heavenly  Redeemer, 
anointed  and  appointed  by  God  Himself,  for  our  fallen 
race,  from  all  eternity.  And  so,  as  you  see,  the  result  proves 
incontestably  that  in  Calvinism,  the  fundamental  conception 
of  the  Church  fits  perfectly  to  the  fundamental  idea  of 
Religion.  All  egoism  and  eudaimonism  are  excluded  from 
both,  even  unto  the  end.  Always  and  ever  we  have  a 
Religion,  and  a  Church,  for  the  sake  of  God,  and  not  for 
the  sake  of  man.  The  origin  of  the  Church  is  in  God,  its 
form  of  manifestation  is  from  God,  and  from  beginning  to 
end,  its  purpose  is   and  remains  to  magnify  God's  glory. 


CALVINISM   AND   RELIGION.  33 

Now  finally,  I  come  to  the  fruit  of  religion  in  our 
practical  life,  or  the  position  taken  by  Calvinism  in  the 
question  of  morals; — the  third  and  last  division,  with  which 
this  lecture  on  Calvinism  and  Religion  will  naturally  conclude. 

Here,  the  first  thing  that  attracts  our  attention  is  the 
apparent  contradiction  between  a  confession,  which,  it  is 
alleged,  blunts  the  edge  of  moral  incentives,  and  a  practice, 
which,  in  moral  earnestness  exceeds  the  practice  of  all  other 
religions.  The  Antinomian  and  the  Puritan  seemed  to  be 
mingled  in  this  field  like  tares  and  wheat,  so  that  at  first  sight 
it  seemed  as  though  the  Antinomian  were  the  logical  result 
of  the  Calvinistic  confession,  and  as  though  it  were  only 
by  a  fortunate  inconsistency  that  the  Puritan  could  infuse 
the  warmth  of  his  moral  earnestness,  into  the  all  congealing 
chill  emanating  from  the  dogma  of  predestination.  Romanists, 
Lutherans,  Remonstrants  and  Libertines  have  ever  charged 
against  Calvinism  that  its  absolute  doctrine  of  predes- 
tination, culminating  in  the  perseverance  of  saints,  must 
necessarily  result  in  a  too  easy  conscience  and  a  dan- 
gerous laxity  of  morals.  But  Calvinism  answers  this 
charge,  not  by  opposing  reasoning  against  reasoning, 
but  by  putting  a  fact  of  world-wide  reputation  over 
against  this  false  deduction  of  fictitious  consequences. 
It  simply  asks : — "What  rival  moral  fruits  have  other 
religions  to  oppose  if  we  point  to  the  high  moral  earnest- 
ness of  the  Puritans?"  "Shall  we  continue  in  sin  that 
grace  may  abound*'  is  the  old  diabolical  whisper  which  the 
evil  spirit  hurled  against  the  Holy  Apostle  himself  in  the 
childhood  of  the  Christian  Church.  And  when,  in  the 
sixteenth  century  the  Heidelburg  Catechism  had  to  defend 
Calvinism  against  the  shameful  charge; — "Does  not  this 
doctrine  lead  to  caieless  and  ungodly  lives?"  Ursinus  and 
Olevianus  had  to  deal  with  nothing  else  than  the  echoing  and 
monotonous  repetition  of  the  same  old  slander.  Certainly  the 
ungodly  lust  to  persist  in,  and  even  to  foster,  indwelling  sin, 
yea  even  Antinomionism  itself,  again  and  again  abused  the 


CALVINISM    AND   RELIGION.  34 

Calvinistic  confession,  seizing  it  like  a  shield,  to  hide  the  carnal 
appetites  of  the  unconverted  heart.  But  as  little  as  the 
mechanical  repetition  of  a  written  confession  had  ever 
anything  in  common  with  genuine  religion,  just  so  little 
may  the  Calvinistic  Confession  he  made  responsible  for  those 
reverberating  stone  pillars,  echoing  Calvin's  fomulas,  but 
without  a  grain  of  Calvinistic  earnestness  in  their  heart. 
He  only  is  the  real  Calvinist,  and  may  raise  the  Calvinistic 
banner,  who  in  his  own  soul,  personally,  has  been  struck 
by  the  Majesty  of  the  Almighty,  and  yielding  to  the  over 
powering  might  of  his  eternal  Love,  has  dared  to  proclaim 
this  majestic  love,  over  against  Satan,  and  the  world,  and 
the  worlclliness  of  his  own  heart,  in  the  personal  conviction 
of  being  chosen  by  Cod  Himself,  and  therefore  of  having 
to  thank  Him  and  Him  alone,  for  every  grace  everlasting. 
Such  an  one  could  not  but  tremble  before  the  might  and 
the  majesty  of  Cod.  as  a  matter  of  course  accepting  His 
Word  as  the  ruling  principle  of  His  conduct  in  life; — a 
principle  which  has  led  so  far  that  for  its  strong  attachment, 
to  the  Scriptures.  Calvinism  has  been  censured,  as  being  nnuiiii- 
stic  religion,  but  without  any  warrant.  Nomistic  is  the 
appropriate  name  for  a  religion  which  proclaims  salvation 
to  be  attained  by  the  fulfilment  of  the  law,  while  Calvi- 
nism, on  the  fother  hand,  in  a  thoroughly  soteriological 
sense,  never  derived  salvation  but  from  Christ  and  the 
atoning  fruit  of  His  merits. 

But  it  remained  the  special  trait  of  Calvinism  that  it 
placed  the  believer  before  the  face  of  God,  not  only  in  His  church, 
but  also  in  his  personal,  family,  social,  and  political  life. 
The  majesty  of  God,  and  the  authority  of  God  press  upon 
the  Calvinist  in  the  whole  of  his  human  existence.  He 
si  a  pilgrim,  not  in  the  sense  that  he  is  marching  through 
a  world  with  which  he  has  no  concern,  but  in  the  sense 
that  at  every  step  of  the  long  way  he  must  remember  his 
responsibility  to  that  God  so  full  of  majesty,  who  awaits 
him    at    his   journey's  end.     In   front  of  the  Portal  which 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  35 

opens   for   him,    on  the  entrance  into  Eternity,  stands  the 
Last   Judgment,  and  that  judgment  shall  be  one  broad  and 
comprehensive  test,  to  ascertain  whether  the  long'  pilgrim- 
age   has    been   accomplished    with    a    heart  that  aimed  at 
God's  glory,  and  in  accordance  with  the  ordinances  of  the 
Most  High.  What  now  does  the  Calvinist  mean  by  his  faith 
in    the    ordinances    of   God?  Nothing  less  than  the    firmly 
rooted     conviction    that     all     life    has     first    been  in  the 
thoughts   of  God,  before  it  came  to  be  realized  in  Creation. 
Hence   all    created    life    necessarily    bears   in    itself  a  law 
for   its     existence,   instituted    by    God    Himself.     There    is 
no  life  outside  us  in  Nature,  without  such  divine  ordinances,— 
ordinances    which  which  are  called  the  laws  of  Nature  ;  — 
a     term    which    we    are    willing    to    accept,    provided    we 
understand  thereby,  not  laws  originating  from  Nature,  but 
laws     imposed     upon    Nature.     So,     there    are    ordinances 
of   Heaven   for   the   firmament  above,    and    ordinances  for 
the    earth    below,    by   means  (if  which  this  world  is  main- 
tained, and,  as  the  Psalmist  says,  these  ordinances  are  the 
servants  of  God.  Consequently  there  are  ordinances  of  God 
for    our    bodies,    for   the    blood   that    courses    through    our 
arteries,    and    veins,    and    for    our    lungs    as   the  organs  of 
respiration.     And    even   so  are  there  ordinances  of  God,  in 
Logic,    to    regulate   our    thoughts;    ordinances    of   God  for 
our  imagination,  in  the  domain  of  aesthetics;  and  so,  also, 
strict   ordinances    of   God    for   the  whole  of  human  life  in 
the    domain    of  moral*.     Not  moral  ordinances  in  the  sense 
of   summary   general    laws,    which    leave    the    decision   in 
concrete  and  detailed    instances    to   ourselves,   but  just  as 
the  ordinance  of  God  determines  the  course  of  the  smallest 
asteroid,  as  well  as  the  orbit  of  the  mightiest  star,  so  also 
these  moral  ordinances  of  God  descend  to    the  smallest  and 
most    particular   details,    stating  to  us  what  in  every  case 
is  to  be  considered  as  the  will  of  God. 

And   those  ordinance-  of  God,  ruling  both  the  mightiest 
problems   and    the    smallest    trifles,    are     urged    upon    us, 


CALVINISM    AND    KELIGION.  36 

not  like  the  statutes  of  a  law  book,  not  like  rules 
■which  may  be  read  from  paper,  not  like  a  codification  of 
life,  which  could  even  for  a  single  moment,  exercise 
any  authority  of  itself, — but  they  are  urged  upon  us 
as  the  constant  will  of  the  omnipresent  and  almighty  God, 
who  at  every  instant  is  determining  the  course  of  life, 
ordaining  its  laws,  and  continually  binding  us  by  His  moral 
authority.  The  Calvinist  does  not,  like  Kant,  ascend  in 
his  reasoning  from  the  "Da  So/is/"  (Thou  shalt)  to  the  idea 
of  a  lawgiver,  but,  because  he  stands  before  the  face  of 
God,  because  he  sees  God,  and  walks  with  God,  and  feels 
God  in  the  whole  of  his  being  and  existence,  therefore  he 
cannot  withdraw  his  ear  from  that  never  silenced  "Thou 
sfialt",  which  proceeds  continually  from  his  God,  in  Nature, 
in  his  body,  in  his  reason,  and  in  his  action. 

Thence  it  follows  that  he  adjusts  himself  to  these  ordinances 
not  by  force,  as  though  they  were  a  yoke  of  which  he  would 
like  to  rid  himself,  but  with  the  same  readiness  with  which  we 
follow  a  guide  through  the  desert,  recognizing  that  ice  are 
ignorant  of  the  path,  which  the  guide  knows,  and  therefore 
acknowledging  that  there  is  no  safety  but  in  closely 
following  in  his  footsteps.  When  our  respiration  is 
disturbed,  we  try  irresistibly  and  immediately  to  remove 
the  disturbance,  and  to  make  it  normal  again,  i.  e.  to 
restore  it,  b}r  bringing  it  again  into  accordance  with  the 
ordinances  which  God  has  given  for  man's  respiration. 
To  succeed  in  this  gives  us  a  feeling  of  unspeakable 
relief.  Just  so,  in  every  disturbance  of  the  moral  life  the 
believer  has  to  strive  as  speedily  as  possible  to  restore  his 
spiritual  respiration,  according  to  the  moral  commands  of 
his  God,  because  only  after  this  restoration  can  the  inward 
life  again  thrive  freely  in  his  soul,  and  renewed  energetic 
action  become  possible.  Therefore  every  distinction  between 
general  moral  ordinances,  and  more  special  christian  com- 
mandments is  unknown  to  him.  Can  we  imagine  that  at 
one    time    God    willed   to   rule   things   in   a  certain  moral 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION".  37 

order,  but  that  now,  in  Christ,  He  wills  to  rule  it  otherwise? 
As  though  He  were  not  the  Eternal,  the  Unchangeable, 
who,  from  the  hour  of  creation  even  unto  all  eternity 
had  willed,  wills,  and  shall  will  and  maintain  one  and  the 
same  firm  moral  world-order!  Verily  Christ  has  swept 
away  the  dust  with  which  our  sinful  limitations  had  covered 
up  this  world-order,  and  has  made  it  glitter  again  in  its 
original  brilliancy. 

Verily  Christ  and  He  alone  has  disclosed  to  us  the  eternal 
love  of  God,  which  was,  from  the  beginning;  the  moving- 
principle  of  this  world  order.  Above  all,  Christ  has  streng- 
thened in  us  the  ability  to  walk  in  this  world  order  with 
a  firm,  unfaltering  step.  But  the  world-order  itself  remains 
just  what  it  was  from  the  beginning.  It  lays  full  claim, 
not  only  to  the  believer  (as  though  less  were  required  from 
the  unbeliever),  but  to  every  human  being  and  to  all  human 
relationships.  Hence  Calvinism  does  not  lead  us  to  philo- 
sophize on  a  so-called  moral  life,  as  though  ice  had  to  create, 
to  discover,  or  to  regulate  this  life.  Calvinism  simply 
places  us  under  the  impress  of  the  majesty  of  God,  and 
subjects  us  to  His  eternal  ordinances  and  unchangeable 
commandments.  Hence  it  is  that,  for  the  Calvin ist,  all  ethical 
study  is  based  on  the  Law  of  Sinai,  not  as  though  at  that 
time  the  moral  world-order  began  to  be  fixed,  but  to  honour 
the  Law  of  Sinai,  as  the  divinely  authentic  summary  of 
that  original  moral  law  which  God  wrote  in  the  heart  of 
man,  at  his  creation,  and  which  God  is  re-writing  on  the 
tables  of  every  heart  at  its  conversion.  The  Calvinist  is 
led  to  submit  himself  to  the  conscience,  not  as  to  an 
individual  lawgiver,  which  every  person  carries  about  in 
himself,  but  as  to  a  direct  sensus  divinitatis,  through  which 
God  Himself  stirs  up  the  inner  man,  and  subjects  him  to 
His  judgment.  He  does  not  hold  to  religion,  with  its 
dogmatics,  as  a  separate  entity,  and  then  place  his  moral 
life  with  its  ethics  as  a  second  entity  alongside  of  religion, 
but  he  holds  to  religion,  as  placing  him  in  the  presence  of 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  38 

God,  Himself,  Who  thereby  embues  him  with  His  divine 
will.  Love,  and  adoration  are,  to  Calvin,  themselves  the 
motives  of  every  spiritual  activity,  and  thus  the  fear  of  God 
is  imparted  to  the  whole  of  life  as  a  reality, — into  the 
family,  and  into  society,  into  science  and  art,  into  personal 
lie,  and  into  the  political  career.  A  redeemed  man  who 
in  all  things  and  in  all  the  choices  of  life  is  controlled 
solely  by  the  most  searching,  and  heart-stirring  reverence 
for  a  God  who  is  ever  present  to  his  consciousness,  and 
who  ever  holds  him  in  his  eye: — thus  does  the  Calvinistic 
type  present  itself  in  history.  Always  and  in  all  things  the 
deepest,  the  most  sacred  reverence  for  the  ever  present  God 
as  the  rule  of  life, — this  is  the  only  true  picture  of  the  original 
Puritan.  The  avoidance  of  the  world  has  never  been  the 
Calvinistic  mark,  but  the  shibboleth  of  the  Anabaptist.  The 
specific,  anabaptistical  Dogma  on  "avoidance"  proves  this. 
According  to  this  dogma,  tin:  Anal taptists,  announcing  them- 
selves as  "saints",  were  severed  from  the  world.  They  stood 
in  opposition  to  the  world.  They  refused  to  take  the  oath; 
they  abhorred  all  military  service;  they  condemned  the 
holding  of  public  offices.  Here  already,  they  shaped  a  new 
world,  in  the  midst  of  a  worldof  sin,  but  which  had  nothing 
to  do  with  this  present  world.  They  rejected  all  obligation 
and  responsibility  towards  the  old  world,  and  they  avoided 
it  systematically,  for  fear  of  contamination,  and  contagion. 
But  this  is  just  what  the  Calvinist  always  disputed  and 
denied.  It  is  not  true  that  there  are  two  worlds,  a  bad 
one  and  a  good,  which  are  fitted  into  each  other.  It  is  one 
and  the  same  person  whom  God  created  perfect  and  who 
afterwards  fell,  and  became  a  sinner; — and  it  is  this 
same  "ego"  of  the  old  sinner  who  is  born  again,  and  who 
enters  into  eternal  life.  So,  also,  it  is  one  and  the  same 
world  which  once  exhibited  all  the  glory  of  Paradise,  which 
was  afterwards  smitten  with  the  curse,  and  which,  since  the 
Fall,  is  upheld  by  common  grace  ;— which  has  now  been 
redeemed   and    saved    by    Christ,   in  its  centre,  and  which 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  39 

shall  pass  through  the  horror  of  the  judgment  into  the 
state  of  glory.  For  this  very  reason,  however,  the  Calvinist 
cannot  shut  himself  up  in  his  church  and  ahandon  the  world 
to  its  fate.  He  feels,  rather,  his  high  calling  to  push  the 
development  of  this  world  to  an  even  higher  stage,  and  to 
do  this  in  constant  accordance  with  God's  ordinance,  for 
the  sake  of  God,  upholding,  in  the  midst  of  so  much  pain- 
ful corruption,  everything  that  is  honourable,  lovely,  and 
of  good  report  among  men.  Therefore  it  is  that  we  see  in 
History  (if  I  may  be  permitted  to  speak  of  my  own  ancest- 
ors), that  scarcely  had  Calvinism  been  firmly  established 
in  the  Netherlands  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  when  there 
was  a  rustling  of  life  in  all  directions,  and  an  indomitable 
energy  was  fermenting  in  every  department  of  human  activ- 
ity, and  their  commerce  and  trade,  their  handicrafts  and 
industry,  their  agriculture  and  horticulture,  their  art  and 
science,  flourished  with  a  brilliancy  previously  unknown, 
and  imparting  a  new  impulse  for  an  entirely  new  development 
of  life,  to  the  whole  of  Western  Europe. 

This  admits  of  only  one  exception,  and  this  exception  I 
wish  both  to  maintain  and  to  place  in  its  proper  light. 
What  I  mean  is  this. — Not  every  intimate  intercourse  with 
the  unconverted  world  is  deemed  lawful,  by  Calvinism,  for 
it  placed  a  barrier  against  the  too  unhallowed  influence 
of  this  world  by  putting  a  distinct  ''veto"'  upon  three  things, 
card-playing,  I  heal  res,  and  dancing; —  three  forms  of  amusement 
which  I  shall  first  treat  separately,  and  then  set  forth  in 
their  combined  influence. — Card-playing  has  been  placed  under 
a  ban  by  Calvinism,  not  as  though  games  of  all  kinds  were 
forbidden,  nor  as  though  something  demoniacal  lurked  in 
the  cards  themselves,  but  because  it  fosters  in  our  heart 
the  dangerous  tendency  to  look  away  from  God,  and  to 
put  our  trust  in  Fori  inn-  or  L/,f/r.  A  game  which  is  decided 
by  keenness  of  vision,  quickness  of  action,  and  range  of 
experience,  is  ennobling  in  its  character,  but  a  game  like 
cards,    which    is    chiefly  decided  by  the  way  in  which  the 


CALVINISM    A\"l>    RELIGION.  40 

cards  are  arranged  in  the  pack,  and  blindly  distributed, 
induces  us  to  attach  a  certain  significance  to  that  fatal 
imaginative  power,  outside  of  God,  called  Chance  or  Fortune. 
To  this  kind  of  unbelief,  every  one  of  us  is  inclined.  The 
fever  of  stock-gambling  shews  daily  how  much  more 
strongly  people  are  attracted  and  influenced  by  the  nod 
of  Fortune,  than  by  solid  application  to  their  work.  There- 
fore the  Calvinist  judged  that  the  rising  generation  should 
be  guarded  against  this  dangerous  tendency,  whereas,  by. 
means  of  card-playing  it  would  be  fostered.  And  since 
the  sensation  of  God's  ever-enduring  presence  was  felt  by 
Calvin  and  his  adherents  as  the  never-failing  source  from 
which  they  drew  their  stern  seriousness  of  life,  they  could 
not  help  loathing  a  game  which  poisoned  this  source  by 
placing  Fortune  above  the  disposition  of  God,  and  the 
hankering  after  chance  above  the  firm  confidence  in  His 
will.  To  fear  God,  and  to  bid  for  the  favors  of  Fortune 
seemed  to  him  as  irreconcilable  as  fire  and  water. 

Entirely  different  objections  were  entertained  against 
Theatre-going.  In  itself  there  is  nothing  sinful  in  fiction;— the 
power  of  the  imagination  is  a  precious  gift  of  God  Himself. 
Neither  is  there  any  special  evil  in  dramatic  imagination. 
How  highly  did  Milton  appreciate  Shakespeare's  Drama,  and 
did  not  he  himself  write  in  dramatic  form?  Nor  did  the 
evil  lie  in  public  theatrical  representations,  as  such.  Public 
performances  were  given  for  all  the  people  at  Geneva, 
in  the  Market  Place,  in  Calvin's  time,  and  with  his 
approval.  No,  that  which  offended  our  ancestors  was  not 
the  comedy  or  tragedy,  nor  should  have  been  the  opera, 
or  the  operetta,  in  itself,  but  the  moral  sacrifice  which 
as  a  rule  was  demanded  of  actors  and  actresses,  for  the 
amusement  of  the  public.  A  theatrical  troop,  in  those 
days  especially,  stood,  morally,  very  low\  This  low  moral 
standard  resulted  partly  from  the  fact  that  the  constant 
and  ever-changing  presentation  of  the  character  of 
other   people,    finally  hampers    the   moulding   of  your  per- 


CALVINISM   AND    RELIGION.  41 

sonal  character;  and  partly  because,  unlike  the  Greeks, 
modern  Theatres  have  introduced  the  presence  of  women 
on  the  stage,  the  prosperity  of  the  Theatre  being  too  often 
gauged  by  the  measure  in  which  a  woman  jeopardizes  the 
most  sacred  treasures  God  entrusts  to  her, — her  stainless 
name,  and  irreproachable  conduct.  Certainly,  a  strictly 
moral  Theatre  is  very  well  conceivable,  but  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  large  cities,  such  Theatres  would  neither 
be  sufficiently  patronized  nor  could  exist  financially,  and 
the  actual  fact  remains  that,  taking  all  the  world  over,  the 
prosperity  of  a  Theatre  often  increases  in  proportion  to  the 
moral  degradation  of  the  actors.  For  often  therefore  the  pros- 
perity  of  Theatres  is  purchased  at  the  cost  ot  manly  char- 
acter, and  of  female  purity;  and  to  purchase  delight  for  the 
ear  and  the  eye  at  the  price  of  such  a  moral  hetacomb,  the 
Calvinist,  who  honoured  whatever  was  human  in  man,  for 
the  sake  of  God,  could  not  but  condemn.  Finally,  so  far 
as  the  dance  is  concerned,  even  worldly  papers,  like  the 
parisian  "Figaro",  at  present  justify  the  position  of  the 
Calvinist.  Only  recently  an  article  in  this  paper  called 
attention  to  the  moral  pain  with  which  a  father  takes  his 
daughter  into  the  Ball-room  for  the  first  time.  This  moral 
pain,  it  declared,  is  evident,  in  Paris  at  least,  to  all  who 
are  familiar  with  the  whisperings,  indecent  looks  and 
actions  prevalent  in  those  pleasure-loving  circles.  Here,  also, 
the  Calvinist  does  not  protest  against  the  Dance  itself, 
but  exclusively,  against  the  impurity  to  which  it  is  often 
in  danger  of  leading.  With  this  I  return  to  the  barrier 
of  which  I  spoke.  Our  fathers  perceived  excellently  well 
that  it  was  just  these  three,— Dancing,  Card-playing,  and 
Theatres, — with  which  the  world  was  madly  in  love.  In 
worldly  circles  these  pleasures  were  not  regarded  as 
secondary  trifles,  but  honoured,  as  all-important  matters; 
and  whoever  dared  to  attack  them,  exposed  himself 
to  the  bitterest  scorn  and  enmity.  For  this  very  reason, 
they    recognized,    in    these    three,    the    Rubicon  which  no 


CALVINISM    AND    RELIGION.  42 

true  Calvinist  could  cross  without  sacrificing  his  earnestness 
to  dangerous  mirth,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  to  often  far 
from  spotless  pleasures.  And  now  may  I  ask,  — has  not 
the  result  justified  their  strong  and  brave  protest  ?  Even  yet 
after  a  lapse  of  three  centuries,  you  will  find,  in  my 
Calvinistic  country,  entire  social  circles  into  which  this  world  - 
liness  is  never  allowed  to  enter,  but  in  which  the  richness  of 
human  life  has  turned,  from  without,  inward,  and  in  which, 
as  the  result  of  a  sound  spiritual  concentration,  there  has 
been  developed  such  a  deep  sense  of  everything  high,  and 
such  an  energy  for  everything  holy  as  to  excite  the  envy 
even  of  our  Antagonists.  Not  only  has  the  wing  of  the 
Butterfly  in  those  circles  been  preserved  intact,  but  even 
the  gold-dust  upon   this  wing  shines  as  brilliantly  as  ever. 

This  now  is  the  proof  to  which  I  invite  your  respectful 
attention.  Our  age  is  far  ahead  of  the  Calvinistic  age 
in  its  overflowing  mass  of  ethical  essays  and  treatises  and 
learned  expositions.  Philosophers  and  Theologians  really 
vie  with  one  another  in  discovering  for  us,  or  in  hiding 
from  us,  just  as  you  may  be  pleased  to  put  it,  the  straight 
road  in  the  domain  of  morals.  But  there  is  something 
that  all  this  .host  of  learned  scholars  have  not  been  able 
to  do.  They  have  not  been  able  to  restore  moral  firmness 
to  the  enfeebled  public  conscience. 

Rather  must  we  complain  that  ever  more  and  more  the 
foundations  of  our  moral  building  are  gradually  being 
loosened  and  unsettled,  until  finally  there  remains  not  one 
stronghold  left  of  which  the  people  in  their  wider  ranks 
can  feel  that  it  guarantees  moral  certainty  for  the  Future. 
Statesmen  and  Jurists  are  openly  proclaiming  the  right 
of  the  strongest ;  the  ownership  of  property  is  called  steal- 
ing; free  love  has  been  advocated,  and  honesty  is  ridiculed. 
A  pantheist  has  dared  to  put  Jesus  and  Nero  on  the  same 
footing;  and  Van  Nietzsche,  going  further  still,  deemed 
Christ's  blessing  of  the  meek  to  be  the  curse  of  humanity. 

Now    compare    with   all    this    the   marvellous  results  of 


CALVINISM   AND    RELIGION.  43 

three  centuries  of  Calvinism.  Calvinism  understood  that  the 
world  was  not  to  be  saved  by  ethical  philosophizing,  but 
only  by  the  restoration  of  tenderness  of  conscience.  There- 
fore it  did  not  indulge  in  reasoning,  but  appealed  directly 
to  the  soul,  and  placed  it  face  to  face  with  the  Living 
God,  so  that  the  heart  trembled,  at  His  holy  majesty,  and 
in  that  majesty,  discovered  the  glory  of  His  love.  And 
when,  going  back  in  this  historical  review,  you  observe 
how  thoroughly  corrupt  and  rotten  Calvinism  found  the 
world,  to  what  depth  moral  life  at  that  time  had  sunken, 
in  the  courts,  and  among  the  people,  in  the  clerg}T,  and 
among  the  leaders  of  science,  among  men  and  wonen,  among 
the  higher  and  the  lower  classes  of  society : — then  what 
censor  among  you  will  dare  to  deny  the  palm  of  moral 
victory  to  Calvinism,  which  in  one  generation,  though 
hunted  from  the  battlefield  to  the  scaffold,  created,  throug- 
hout five  nations  at  once,  wide  serious  groups  of  noble 
men  and  still  nobler  women,  hitherto  unsurpassed  in  the 
loftiness  of  their  ideal  conceptions  and  unequalled  in  the 
power  of  their  moral  self-control. 


}\CUudUX  ,     Mt^ 


THIRD  LECTURE. 


CALVINISM  AND  POLITICS. 

My  third  lecture  leaves  the  sanctuary  of  religion  and 
enters  upon  the  domain  of  the  State;  the  first  transition 
from  the  Sacred  Circle  to  the  secular  field  of  human  life. 
Only  now  therefore  we  proceed,  summarily  and  in  prin- 
ciple, to  eradicate  the  wrong  idea,  that  Calvinism 
represents  an  exclusive^  ecclesiastical  and  dogmatic 
movement. 

The  religious  momentum  of  Calvinism  has  placed,  beneath 
political  Society,  a  fundamental  conception,  all  its  own, 
just  because  it  did  not  only  prune  the  branches  and  clean 
the    stem,  but     reached  down  to  the  very  root  of  life. 

That  this  had  to  be  so  becomes  evident  at  once  to  everyone, 
who  is  able  to  appreciate  that  a  political  scheme  has 
never  become  dominant,  which  was  not  founded  in  a  specific 
religious  conception. 

And  that  this  has  been  the  fact,  as  regards  Calvinism, 
may  appear  from  the  political  changes,  which  it  has 
effected  in  those  three  historic  lands  of  political  freedom,  the 
Netherlands,  England  and   America. 

Every  competent  historian  will  without  exception  confirm 
the  words  of  Bancroft:— "The  fanatic  for  Calvinism  was 
a  fanatic  for  liberty,  for  in  the  moral  warfare  for  freedom, 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS. 


his  creed  was  a  part  of  his  army,  and  his  most  faithful 
ally  in  the  battle."  l  And  Groen  van  Prinsterer  has  thus 
expressed  it:  "in  Calvinism  lies  the  origin  and  guarantee 
of  our  constitutional  liberties."  That  Calvinism  has  led  public 
law  into  new  paths,  first  in  Western  Europe,  then  in  two 
Continents,  and  to-day  more  and  more  among  all  civilized 
nations,  is  admitted  by  scientific  students,  if  not  yet  fully 
by  public  opiniou. 

But  for  the  purpose  I  have  in  view,  the  mere  statement 
of  this  important  fact  is  insufficient. 

In  order  that  conviction  may  be  aroused  and  the 
influence  of  Calvinism  on  our  political  development  guaran- 
teed for  the  future,  it  must  be  shown, — for  what 
fundamental  political  conceptions  Calvinism  has  opened 
the  door,  and  how  these  political  conceptions  sprang  from 
its  root  in  religion. 

Allow  me  to  argue  this  matter  in  detail  by  pointing 
out   to    you  a  threefold  Sovereignty:— 

1.  the  Sovereignty  in  the  sphere  of  the  State;  2.  the 
Sovereignty  in  the  sphere  of  Social  life ;  and  3.  the  Sovereignty 
in  the  sphere  of  the  Church. 


First  then  Sovereignty  in  that  political  sphere,  which 
is  defined  as  the  State.  And  then  we  admit  that  the 
impulse  to  form  states  arises  from  man's  social  nature, 
which  was  expressed  already  by  Aristotle,  when  he  called 
man  a  l%aov  ^olirixov."  God  might  have  created  men  as 
disconnected  individuals,  standing  side  by  side  and  without 
genealogical  coherence.  Just  as  Adam  was  separately  created, 
the  second  and  third  and  every  further  man  might  have 
been  individually  called  into  existence;  but  this  was  not 
the  case. 


1    History    of  the   Unile<l  States,  from   the  discovery  of  the   V.  States.  Fifteenth 
Ed.  Boston  1853,  I.  464. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  3 

Man  is  created  from  man,  and  by  virtue  of  his  birth  he 
is  organically  united  with  the  whole  race.  Together  we 
form  one  humanity,  not  only  with  those  who  are  living  now, 
but  also  with  all  the  generations  behind  us  and  with  all 
those  who  shall  come  after  us, — pulverized  into  millions 
though  we  may  be. 

All  the  human  race  is  from  one  blood.  But  the  concep- 
tion of  States,  which  subdivide  the  earth  into  continents, 
and  each  continent  into  morsels,  does  not  harmonize  with 
this  idea. 

Then  only  would  the  organic  unity  of  our  race  be 
realized  politically,  if  one  State  could  embrace  all  the 
world,  and  if  the  whole  of  humanity  were  associated  in 
one  world-empire. 

Had  sin  not  intervened,  no  doubt,  this  would  actually 
have  been  so.  If  sin,  as  a  disintegrating  force,  had 
not  divided  humanity  into  different  sections,  nothing- 
would  have  marred  or  broken  the  organic  unity  of 
our    race. 

And  the  mistake  of  the  Alexanders  and  of  the  Augusti 
and  of  the  Napoleons  was  not,  that  they  were  charmed 
with  the  thought  of  the  One  World-empire,  but  it  was  this 
— that  they  endeavored  to  realize  this  idea  notwithstand- 
ing that  the  force  of  sin  had  dissolved  our  unity. 

In  like  manner  the  international  cosmopolitan  endeavors 
of  the  Social-democracy  present,  in  their  conception  of 
union,  an  ideal,  which  on  this  very  account  charms  us,  even 
when  we  are  aware  that  they  try  to  reach  the  unat- 
tainable, in  endeavouring  to  realize  this  high  and  holy 
ideal,  now  and  in  a  sinful  world. 

Nay  even  Anarchy,  conceived  as  the  attempt  to  undo 
all  mechanical  connections  among  men,  together  with  the 
undoing  of  all  human  authority,  and  to  encourage,  in  their 
stead,  the  growth  of  a  new  organic  tie,  arising  from  nature 
itself, — I  say,  all  this  is  nothing  but  a  looking  backward 
after  a  lost  paradise. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS. 


For  indeed  without  sin  there  would  have  been  neither 
magistrate  nor  state-order;  but  political  life,  in  its  entirety, 
would  have  evolved  itself,  after  a  patriarchal  fashion,  from 
the  life  of  the  family. 

Neither  bar  of  justice,  nor  police  nor  army,  nor  navy  is 
conceivable  in  a  world  without  sin;  and  thus  every  rule 
and  ordinance  and  law  would  drop  away,  even  as  all 
control  and  assertion  of  the  power  of  the  magistrate  would 
disappear,  were  life  to  develop  itself,  normally  and  without 
hindrance,  from  its  own  impulse. 

Who  binds  up,  where  nothing  is  broken?  Who  uses 
crutches,  where  the  limbs  are  sound  ? 

Every  State-formation,  every  assertion  of  the  power 
of  the  magistrate,  every  mechanical  means  of  compelling 
order  and  of  guaranteeing  a  safe  course  of  life  is  therefore 
always  something  unnatural;  something,  against  which 
the  deeper  aspirations  of  our  nature  rebel ;  and  which,  on 
this  very  account,  may  become  the  source  both  of  a 
dreadful  abuse  of  power,  by  those  who  exercise  it,  and 
of  a  contumacious  revolt  by  the  multitude. 

Thus  originated  the  battle  of  the  ages  between  Authority 
and  Liberty,  and  in  this  battle  it  was  the  very  innate  thirst  for 
liberty,  which  proved  itself  the  God-ordained  means  to  bridle 
the  authority,  wheresoever   it   degenerated  into  despotism. 

Thus  all  true  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  State  and 
of  the  assumption  of  authority  by  the  magistrate,  but  on 
the  other  hand  also  of  the  right  and  duty  of  the  people 
to  defend  liberty,  depend  on  what  Calvinism  has  here 
placed  in  the  foreground,  as  the  primordial  truth, — that 
God  has  instituted  the  magistrates,  by  reason  of  sin. 

In  this  one  thought  are  hidden  both  the  light-side  and 
the  shady -side  of  the  life  of  the  State. 

The  shady-side,  for  this  multitude  of  states  ought  not  to 
exist;  there  should  be  only  one  world-empire.  These 
magistrates  rule  mechanically  and  do  not  harmonize  with 
our  nature.     And  this  authority  of  government  is  exercised 


CALVINISM   AXD    POLITICS. 


by  men,  and  is  therefore  subject  to  all  manner  of  despotic 
ambitions. 

But  the  light-side  also,  for  a  sinful  humanity,  without 
division  in  states,  without  law  and  government,  and  with- 
out ruling  authority,  would  be  a  veritable  hell  on  earth ; 
or  at  least  a  repetition  of  that  which  existed  in  the  earth, 
when  (rod  drowned  the  first  degenerate  race,  in  the 
deluge.  Calvinism  has  therefore,  by  its  deep  conception  of 
sin,  laid  bare  the  true  root  of  state  life,  and  has  taught 
us  two  things.  First — that  we  have  gratefully  to  receive, 
from  the  hand  of  'rod,  the  institution  of  the  State  with 
its  magistrates,  as  a  means  of  preservation,  now  indeed 
indispensable.  And  on  the  other  hand  also  that,  by  virtue 
of  our  natural  impulse,  we  must  ever  watch  against  the 
danger,  which  lurks  in  the  power  of  the  State,  for  our 
personal  liberty. 

But  Calvinism  has  done  more.  Just  as  the  depth  of 
darkness  is  not  apprehended,  except  by  antithesis  with  the 
light ;  so  also  on  this  point,  the  depth  of  sin  cannot  be 
appreciated,  unless  every  nation  and  people  be  placed 
before  the  face  of  God.  In  Politics  also  the  people  must 
not  be  the  principal  thing,  so  that  God  is  only  di'agged 
in,  to  help  this  people  in  the  hour  of  its  need :  but  on 
the  contrary  Cod,  in  His  Majesty,  must  flame  before  the 
eyes  of  every  nation,  and  all  nations  to  gether  are  to  be 
reckoned  before  Him  as  a  drop  of  a  bucket  and  as  the  small 
dust  of  the  balances.  From  the  ends  of  the  earth 
God  cites  all  nations  and  peoples  before  His  high  judgment- 
seat.  For  God  created  the  nations.  Thej'  exist  for  Him. 
They  are  His  own.  And  therefore  all  these  nations,  and  in 
them  all  humanity,  must  exist  for  His  glory  and  conse- 
quently after  his  ordinances.  For  in  their  wellbeing,  when 
they  walk  after  His  ordinances,  His  divine  wisdom  must 
shine  forth. 

When  therefore  humanity  falls  apart  through  sin,  in  a 
multiplicity    of   separate    peoples:    and    when    sin,    in    the 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  6 

bosom  of  these  nations,  separates  and  tears  apart,  and 
reveals  itself  in  all  manner  of  shame  and  unrighteous- 
ness,— the  glory  of  God  demands  that  these  horrors  be 
bridled,  that  order  return  to  this  chaos  and  that  a  com- 
pulsory force,  from  without,  assert  itself  to  make  human 
society  a  possibility. 

This  right   is  possessed,  by  God  and  by  Him  alone. 

No  man  has  the  right  to  rule  over  another  man,  or  it 
must  be,  and  immediately  becomes,  the  right  of the  strongest. 
As  the  tiger  in  the  jungle  rules  over  the  defenceless 
antilope,  so  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  a  Pharaoh  ruled  over 
the  progenitors  of  the  fellaheen  of  Egypt. 

Nor  can  a  group  of  men,  by  contract,  from  their  own 
right,  compel  you  to  obey  a  fellow-man.  What  binding 
force  is  there  for  me  in  the  fact,  that  ages  ago  one  of  my 
progenitors  made  a  "Contrat  Social",  with  other  men  of 
that  time  1  As  man  I  stand,  free  and  bold,  over  against 
the  most  powerful  of  my  fellow-men. 

I  do  not  speak  of  the  family,  for  here  natural  ties  rule; 
but  in  the  sphere  of  the  State  I  do  not  yield  or  bow  down 
to  anyone,  who  is  man,  as  I  am. 

Authority  over  men  cannot  arise  from  men.  Just  as  little 
from  a  majority  over  against  a  minority,  for  history  shows, 
almost  on  every  page,  that  very  often  the  minority  was 
right.  And  thus  to  the  first  Calvinistic  thesis  that—*/// 
alone  has  necessitated  the  institution  of  governments—,  this 
second  and  no  less  momentous  thesis  is  added — that — all 
authority  of  governments  on  earth,  originates  from  the  Sov- 
ereignty of  God  alone. 

When  God  says  to  me— obey — ,  then  I  humbly  bow 
my  head,  without  compromising  in  the  least  my  personal 
dignity,  as  a  man.  For,  in  like  proportion  as  you  degrade 
yourself,  by  bowing  low  to  a  child  of  man,  whose  breath 
is  in  his  nostrils ;  so,  on  the  other  hand  do  you  raise 
yourself,  if  you  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS. 


Thus  the  word  of  Scripture  stands: — "By  Me  kings 
reign — ",  or  as  the  apostle  has  elsewhere  declared:  — "  The 
powers,  that  be,  are  ordained  of  God.  Therefore  he  that 
resisteth  the  power,  withstandeth  the  ordinance  of  God". 

The  magistrate  is  an  instrument  of  common  grace,  to 
thwart  all  license  and  outrage  and  to  shield  the  good 
against  the  evil.  But  he  is  more.  Besides  all  this  he  is 
instituted  by  God  as  Mis  Servant,  in  order  that  he  may 
preserve  the  glorious  work  of  God,  in  the  creation  of  hu- 
manity, from  total  destruction.  Sin  attacks  God's  handi- 
work, God's  plan,  God's  justice,  God's  honor,  as  the  Supreme 
Artificer  and  Builder.  Thus  God,  ordaining  the  powers  that 
be,  in  order  that,  through  their  instrumentality,  He  might 
maintain  His  justice  against  the  strivings  of  sin,  has 
given  to  the  magistrate  the  terrible  right  of  life  and  death. 
Therefore  all  the  powers  that  be,  whether  in  empires  or 
in  republics,  in  cities  or  in  states,  rule  "by  the  //race  of  God.'' 
For  the  same  reason  justice  bears  a  holy  character.  And  from 
thej  same  motive  every  citizen  is  bound  to  obey;  not  only 
from   dread  of  punishment,   but  for  the  sake  of  conscience. 

Further  Calvin  has  expressly  stated  that  authority,  as  such, 
is  in  no  way  affected  by  the  question,  how  a  government 
is  instituted  and  in  what  form  it  reveals  itself. 

It  is  well  known  that  personally  he  preferred  a  republic, 
and  that  he  cherished  no  predilection  for  a  monarchy,  as 
if  this  were  the  divine  and  ideal  form  of  government. 

This  indeed  would  have  been  the  case  in  a  sinless  state. 
For  had  sin  not  entered,  God  would  have  remained  the  sole 
king  of  all  men,  and  this  condition  will  return,  in  the  glory 
to; come,  when  God  once  more  will  be  all  and  in  all. 

God's  own  direct  government  is  absolutely  monarchical;  no 
monotheist  will  deny  it. 

But  Calvin  considered  a  co-operation  of  many  persons 
under  mutual  control  i.e.  a  republic,  desirable,  now  that  a 
mechanical  institution  of  government  is  necessitated  b}T 
reason  of  sin. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  8 

Iii  his  system  however,  this  could  only  amount  to  a  gradual 
difference  in  practical  excellency,  but  never  to  a  fundamental 
difference,  as  regards  the  essence  of  authority. 

He  considers  a  monarchy  and  an  aristocrac}',  as  well  as 
a  democracy,  both  possible  and  practicable  forms  of  govern- 
ment; provided  it  be  unchangeably  maintained,  that  no  one 
on  earth  can  claim  authority  over  his  fellow-men,  unless  it 
be  laid  upon  him  "by  the  grace  of  God'';  and  therefore,  the 
ultimate  duty  of  obedience,  is  imposed  upon  us  not  by 
man,  but  by  God  Himself. 

The  question  how  those  persons,  who  by  divine  authority  are 
to  be  clothed  with  power,  are  indicated,  can,  accordiug  to 
Calvin,  not  be  answered  alike  for  all  peoples  and  for  all 
time.  And  yet  he  does  not  hesitate  to  state,  in  an  ideal 
sense,  that  the  most  desirable  conditions  there  exist. 
where  the  people  itself  chooses  its  own  magistrates. 

Where  such  a  condition  exists  he  thinks  that  the  people 
should  gratefully  recognize  therein  a  favor  of  God,  precise- 
ly as  it  has  been  expressed  in  the  preamble  of  more  than 
one  of  your  constitutions: — "Grateful  to  almighty  God 
that  He  gave  us  the  power  to  choose  our  own  magistrates.'' 

In  his  Commentary  on  Samuel,  Calvin  therefore  admon- 
ishes such  peoples-. — "And  ye,  o  peoples,  to  whom  God 
gave  the  liberty  to  choose  your  own  magistrates,  see  to  it, 
that  ye  do  not  forfeit  this  favor,  by  electing  to  the  posi- 
tions of  highest  honor,  rascals  and  enemies  of  God.'' 

I  ma}'  add  that  the  popular  choice  gains  the  day,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  where  no  other  rule  exists,  or  where  the 
existing  rule  falls  away. 

Wherever  new  States  have  been  founded,  except  by  con- 
quest or  force,  the  first  government  has  always  been  founded 
by  popular  choice;  and  so  also  where  the  highest  authority 
had  fallen  into  disorder,  either  by  want  of  a  determination 
of  the  right  of  succession,  or  through  the  violence  of  revo- 
lution, it  has  always  been  the  people  who  through  their 
representatives,  claimed  the  right  to  restore  it. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS. 


But  with  equal  decision,  Calvin  asserts  that  God  has  the 
sovereign  power,  in  the  way  of  His  dispensing  providence, 
to  take  from  a  people  this  most  desirable  condition,  or 
never  to  bestow  it  at  all,  when  a  Nation  is  unfit  for  it, 
or,  by  its  sin,  has  utterly  forfeited  the  blessing. 

The  historic  development  of  a  people  shows,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  in  what  other  ways  authority  is  bestowed.  This 
bestowal  may  flow  from  the  right  of  inheritance,  as  in  a 
hereditary  monarchy.  It  may  result  from  a  hard-fought 
war,  even  as  Pilate  had  power  over  Jesus,  "given  him 
from  above."  It  may  proceed  from  electors,  as  it  did  in 
the  old  German  empire.  It  may  rest  with  the  States  of 
the  country,  as  was  the  case  in  the  old  Dutch  republic.  In 
a  word  it  may  assume  a  variety  of  forms,  because  there  is 
an  endless  difference  in  the  development  of  nations.  A  form 
of  government  like  your  own,  could  not  exist  one  day  in  China. 
Even  now,  the  people  of  Russia  are  unfit  for  any  form  of 
constitutional  government.  And  among  the  Kaffers  and 
Hottentots  of  Africa,  even  a  government,  such  as  exists  in 
Russia,  would  be  wholly  inconceivable.  All  this  is  deter- 
mined and  appointed  by  God,  through  the  hidden  counsel 
of  His  providence.  But  in  whatever  way  the  highest 
authority  ma}*  be  conveyed,  that  authority  remains  divine 
in  its  origin,  and  blessed  is  the  man,  who  honors  God's 
sovereignty  therein.     All  this  however,  is  no  ilieocracy. 

A  theocracy  was  only  found  in  Israel,  because  in  Israel,  God 
intervened  immediately.  For  both  by  Urim  and  Thummim 
and  by  Prophecy;  both  by  His  saving  miracles  and  by  His 
chastising  judgments,  He  held  in  His  own  hand  the  juris- 
diction and  the  leadership  of  His  people. 

But  the  Calviuistic  confession  of  the  sovereignty  of 
God,  holds  good  for  all  the  world,  is  true  for  all 
nations  and  is  of  force  in  all  authority,  which  man 
exercises  over  man;  even  in  the  authorit}',  which  parents 
possess  over  their  children.  It  is  therefore  a  political  faith, 
which  may  be  summarily  expressed  in  these  three  theses  : — 


CALVINISM   AND    POLITICS.  lO 

1"  God  only — and  never  any  creature — is  possessed  of 
sovereign  rights,  in  the  destiny  of  the  nations,  because  God 
alone  created  them,  maintains  them  by  His  Almighty  power, 
and  rules  them,  by  His  ordinances.  2°  Sin  has,  in  the 
realm  of  politics,  broken  down  the  direct  government  of 
God,  and  therefore  the  exercise  of  authority,  for  the  purpose 
of  government,  has  subsequently  been  invested  in  men, 
as  a  mechanical  remedy.  And  3°  In  whatever  form  this 
authority  may  reveal  itself,  man  never  possesses  power 
over  his  fellow-man,  in  any  other  way  than  by  an  authority, 
which  descends  upon  him  from  the  majesty  of  God. 


Directly  opposed  to  this  Calvinistic  confession  there  are 
two  other  theories.  That  of  the  papular-sovereignty,  as  it 
has  been  anti-theistically  proclaimed  at  Paris  in  1789; 
aud  that  of  state -sovereignty ,  as  it  has  of  late  been  devel- 
oped by  the  historico-pantheistic  school  of  Germany.  Both 
these  theories  are  at  heart  identical,  but  for  the  sake  of 
clearness  they  demand  a  separate  treatment. 

What  was  it.  that  impelled  and  animated  the  spirits  of 
men  in  the  great  French  revolution?  Indignation  at  abuses, 
which  had  crept  in?  A  horror  of  a  crowned  despotism? 
A  noble  defense  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people? 
In  part  certainly,  but  in  all  this  there  is  so  little  that  is 
sinful,  that  even  a  Calvinist  gratefully  recognizes,  in  these 
three  particulars,  the  divine  judgment,  which  at  that  time 
was  executed  at  Paris. 

But  the  impelling  force  of  the  French  Revolution  did 
not  lie  in  this  hatred  of  abuses.  When  Edmund  Burke 
compares  the  "glorious  Revolution''  of  16SS,  with  the 
principle  of  the  Revolution  of  1789,  he  says  — :  "  Our 
revolution  and  that  of  France  are  just  the  reverse  ol  each 
other,  in  almost  every  particular,  and  in  the  whole  spirit 
of  the  transaction."  * 

*  Burke,  Works  III  p.  25  Ed.  Mc.  Lean.  London. 


CALVINISM    AND   POLITICS.  11 

This  same  Edmund  Burke,  who  so  bitterly  antagonized 
the  French  revolution,  has  manfully  defended  your  own 
rebellion  against  England,  as  "arising  from  a  principle  of 
energy,  showing  itself  in  this  good  people  the  main  cause 
of  a  free  spirit,  the  most  adverse  to  all  implicit  submission 
of  mind  and  opinion.'' 

We  may  say  the  same  of  the  rebellion  of  the  Nether- 
lands against  Spain.  All  these  revolutions  left  untouched 
the  glory  of  God,  nay  they  even  proceeded  from  the 
acknowledgment  of  His  majesty.  Every  one  will  admit 
this  of  our  rebellion  against  Spain,  under  William  the 
Silent.  Nor  has  it  even  been  doubted  of  the  "glorious 
Revolution",  which  was  crowned  by  the  arrival  of 
William  III  of  Orange,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuarts. 
It  is  equally  true  of  your  own  Revolution.  It  is  expressed, 
in  so  many  words,  in  the  Declaration  of  independence,  by 
John  Hancock,  that  the  Americans  asserted  themselves 
by  virtue — "of  the  law  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God"; 
that  they  acted— "as  endowed  by  the  Creator  with 
certain  unalienable  rights";  that  they  appealed  to  — "the 
Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  their 
intention" ;  f  and  that  they  sent  forth  their  "declaration 
of  Independence" — "with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection 
of  Divine  Providence".  §  In  the  "Articles  of  Confederation" 
it  is  confessed,  in  the  preamble. — "that  it  hath  pleased 
the  great  Governor  of  the  world  to  incline  the  hearts  of 
the  legislators."  §§  It  is  also  declared  in  the  preamble  of  the 
Constitution  of  many  of  the  States: — "Grateful  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  civil,  political  and  religious  liberty,  which  He 
has  so  long  permitted  us  to  enjoy  and  looking  unto  Him, 
for  a  blessing  upon  our  endeavors."  *  God  is  there  honored 


f  American  Constitutions,  by  Franklin  B.  Hugh,  Albany  Weed  Parsons   &  Co 
1872.  Vol  I.  p.  5. 

§  Ibidem  p.  8.      §§  p.   19. 
*  Ibidem  II,  p.  549. 


CALVINISM   AND    POLITICS.  12 

as  "the  Sovereign  Ruler",  f  and  the  "Legislator  of  the 
Universe''  §  and  it  is  there  specifically  admitted  that 
from  God  the  people  received  "the  right  to  choose  their 
own  form  of  government",  ff  In  one  of  the  meetings  of 
the  Convention,  Franklin  proposed,  in  a  moment  of  supreme 
anxiety,  that  they  should  ask  wisdom  from  God  in  prayer. 
If  any  one  should  still  doubt  whether  or  not,  the 
American  revolution  was  homogeneous  with  that  of  Paris, 
this  doubt  is  fully  set  at  rest,  by  the  bitter  fight,  in  1793, 
between  Jefferson  and  Washington.  And  so  the  judgment  of 
the  German  historian  Von  Holtz  remains  intact:  "Es 
ware  Thorheit  zu  sagen  dass  die  Rousseauschen  Schriften 
einen  Einfluss  auf  die  Entwicklung  in  America  ausgeiibt 
haben/'§§  ("Mere  madness  would  it  be  to  say  that  the 
American  revolution  borrowed  its  impelling  energy  from 
Rousseau  and  his  writings.") 

The  French  Revolution  is  in  principle  distinct  from  all 
these  national  revolutions,  which  were  undertaken  with 
praying  lips  and  with  trust  in  the  help  of  God. 

The  French  Revolution  ignores  God.  It  opposes  God_ 
It  refuses  to  recognize  a  deeper  ground  of  political  life 
than  that  which  is  found  in  nature,  that  is,  in  this 
instance,  in  man  himself.  Here  the  first  article  of  the 
confession  of  the  most  absolute  infidelity  is — "ni  Dieu  ni 
maitre".  The  sovereign  God  is  dethroned  and  man 
with  his  free  will  is  placed  on  the  vacant  throne.  It  is 
the  will  of  man,  which  determines  things.  All  power,  all 
authority  proceeds  from  man.  Thus  one  comes  from  the 
individual  man  to  the  many  men;  and  in  those  many  men 
conceived  as  the  people,  there  is  thus  hidden  the  deepest 
fountain  of  all  sovereignty.  There  is  no  question,  as  in 
your  Constitution,  of  a  sovereignty,  derived  from  God, 
which   He,  under  certain  conditions  implants  in  the  people. 


t  Ibidem  p.  555.       §  p.  555.      ft  P-  549- 

§§  Von    Holtz,     Verfassung     and     Democratie    der     VereenUjten     Slaten     run 
America.     Dusseldorf.  1873  I  p.  96. 


CALVINISM   AXD    POLITICS.  13 

Here  an  original  sovereignty  asserts  itself,  which  every- 
where and  in  all  states,  can  only  proceed  from  the 
people  itself,  having  no  deeper  root  than  in  the  human  will. 
A  sovereignty  of  the  people  therefore,  which  is  perfectly 
identical  with  atheism.  And  herein  lies  the  self-abasement. 
In  the  sphere  of  Calvinism,  as  also  in  your  Constitution, 
the  knee  is  bowed  to  God,  while  over  against  man  the  head 
is  proudly  lifted  up.  But  here,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people,  the  fist  is  defiantly  doubled 
against  God,  while  man  grovels  before  his  fellow-men, 
tinseling  over  this  self-abasement  by  the  ludicrous  fiction 
that,  thousands  of  years  ago,  men,  of  whom  no  one  has 
any  remembrance,  concluded  a  political  contract,  or,  as 
they  called  it,  "Contrat  Social".  Now,  do  you  ask  for 
the  result  ?  Then,  let  History  tell  you  how  the  rebellion  of 
the  Netherlands,  the  ''glorious  Revolution"  of  England  and 
your  own  rebellion  against  the  British  Crown  have  brought 
liberty  to  honor;  and  answer  for  yourself  the  question  has 
the  French  Revolution  resulted  in  anything  else  but  the 
shackling  of  liberty,  in  the  irons  of  State-omnipotence?  Indeed 
no  country  in  our  19th  century,  has  made  a  sadder  State- 
history  than  France. 

No  wonder  that  Scientific  Germany  has  broken  away 
from  this  fictitious  sovereignty  of  the  people,  since  the  da}rs 
of  De  Savignv  and  Niebuhr.  The  Historical  school,  founded 
by  these  eminent  men,  has  pilloried  the  aprioristic  fiction 
of  17S9.  Every  historical  connoisseur  now  ridicules  it.  But 
that  which  they  recommended  instead  of  it,  bears  no 
better  stamp. 

Now  it  was  to  be  not  the  sovereignty  of  the  people, 
but  the  Sovereignty  of  the  State,  a  product  of  Germanic 
philosophical  pantheism.  Ideas  are  incarnated  in  the  real- 
ity, and  among  these  the  idea  of  the  State  was  the  highest, 
the  richest,  the  most  perfect  idea  of  the  relation  between 
man  and  man.  Thus  the  State  became  a  mystical  conception. 
The   State   was    considered  as  a  mysterious  being,  with   a 


CALVINISM   AND    POLITICS.  14 

hidden  ego;  with  a  State-consciousness,  slowly  developing;  and 
with  an  ever  more  potent  St&te-will,  which  by  a  slow  process 
endeavored  to  reach  the  highest  State-aim.  The  people  was  not 
understood  as  with  Rousseau,  to  be  the  sum  total  of  the  indi- 
viduals. It  was  correctly  seen  that  a  people  is  no  aggregate, 
but  an  organic  whole.  This  organism  must  of  necessity 
have  its  organic  members.  Slowly  these  organs  arrived 
at  their  historic  development.  By  these  organs,  the 
will  of  the  State  operates,  and  everything  must  bow 
before  this  will.  This  sovereign  State-will  might  reveal 
itself  in  a  republic,  in  a  monarchy,  in  a  Caesar,  in  an 
Asiatic  despot,  in  a  tyrant  as  Philip  of  Spain,  or  in  a 
dictator  like  Napoleon.  All  these  were  but  forms,  in 
which  the  one  State-idea  incorporated  itself;  the  stages 
of  development  in  a  never  ending  process.  But  in  what- 
ever form  this  mystical  being  of  the  State  revealed 
itself,  the  idea  remained  supreme ;  the  State  shortly  asserted 
its  sovereignty  and  for  every  member  of  the  State,  it 
remained  the  touchstone  of  wisdom  to  give  way  to  this 
State-apotheosis. 

Thus  all  transcendent  right  in  God,  to  which  the  oppres- 
sed lifted  up  his  face,  falls  away.  There  is  no  other  right, 
but  the  immanent  right,  which  is  written  down  in  the  law. 
The  law  is  right,  not  because  its  contents  are  in  harmony 
with  the  eternal  principles  of  right,  but  because  it  is  law. 
If  on  the  morrow  it  fixes  the  very  opposite,  this  also  must 
be  right.  And  the  fruit  of  this  deadening  theory  is,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  that  the  consciousness  of  right  is  blunted, 
that  all  fixedness  of  right  departs  from  our  minds  and 
that  all  higher  enthusiasm  for  right  is  extinguished.  That 
which  exists  is  good,  because  it  exists ;  and  it  is  no  longer 
the  will  of  God,  of  Him  Who  created  us  and  knows  us, 
but  it  becomes  the  ever-changing  will  of  the  State,  which, 
having  no  one  above  itself,  actually  becomes  God  and  has 
to  decide  how  our  life  and  our  existence  shall  be. 

And  when  you  further  consider  that  this  mystical  State 


CALVINISM    AND   POLITICS.  15 

expresses  and  enforces  its  will  only  through  men — what 
further  proof  is  demanded  that  this  state-sovereignty  even 
as  popular  sovereignty,  does  not  outgrow  the  aliasing 
subjection  of  man  to  his  fellow-man  and  never  ascends  to 
a  duty  of  Submission,  which  finds  its  cogency  in  the 
conscience. 

Therefore  in  opposition  both  to  the  atheistic  popular- 
sovereignty  of  the  Encyclopaedians,  and  the  pantheistic  state- 
sovereignty  of  German  philosophers,  I  maintain  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God,  that  divine  sovereignty,  which  has  been 
proclaimed  by  Calvinism  as  the  source  of  all  authority 
among  men. 

The  Calvinist  upholds  the  highest  and  best  in  our 
aspirations,  by  placing  every  man  and  every  people  before 
the  face  of  our  Father  in  heaven.  He  takes  cognizance  of 
the  fact  of  sin,  which  erstwhile  was  juggled  away  and 
which  now,  in  pessimistic  extravagance,  is  accounted  the 
essence  of  our  being.  It  points  to  the  difference  between  the 
natural  concatination  of  our  organic  society  and  the  mechan- 
ical tie,  which  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  imposes. 
It  makes  it  easy  for  us  to  obey  authority,  because,  in  all 
authority,  it  causes  us  to  honor  the  demand  of  divine 
sovereignty.  It  lifts  us  from  an  obedience,  born  of  dread 
of  the  strong  arm,  iuto  an  obedience  for  conscience  sake. 
It  teaches  us  to  look  upward  from  the  existing  law  to  the 
source  of  the  eternal  Right,  in  God,  and  it  creates  in  us 
the  indomitable  courage,  incessantly  to  protest  against  the 
unrighteousness  of  the  law  in  the  name  of  this  highest 
Eight.  And  however  powerfully  the  State  may  assert  itself 
and  oppress  the  free  individual  development,  above  that 
powerful  State  there  is  always  glittering,  before  our  soul's 
eye,  as  infinitely  more  powerful,  the  majesty  of  the  King  of 
Kings;  whose  righteous  bar  ever  maintains  the  right  of 
appeal  for  all  the  oppressed,  and  unto  whom  the  prayer 
of  the  people  ever  ascends,  to  bless  our  nation  and,  in 
that  nation,  us  and  our  house ! 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  16 

So  much  for  the  sovereignty  of  the  state.  We  now  come 
to  sovereignly  in  the  individual  sphere  of  social  life.    ■ 

In  a  Calvinistic  sense  we  understand  hereby,  that  the 
family,  the  business,  science,  art  and  so  forth  are  all 
social  spheres,  which  do  not  owe  their  existence  to  the 
State,  and  which  do  not  derive  the  law  of  their  life  from 
the  superiority  of  the  state,  but  obey  a  high  authority 
within  their  own  bosom,  which  rules,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
just  as  the  sovereignty  of  the  State  does. 

This  involves  the  antithesis  between  State  and  Society,  but 
upon  this  condition,  that  we  do  not  conceive  this  society 
as  a  conglomerate,  but  as  analysed  in  its  organic  parts, 
to  honor,  in  each  of  these  parts,  the  independent  character, 
which  appertains  to  them. 

In  this  independent  character  a  special  authority  is  of 
necessity  involved.  And  though  in  the  different  departments 
of  these  spheres  this  authority  may  be  graduated,  finally 
it  must  assume  the  form  of  the  highest  authority  in  each 
particular  sphere.  And  this  highest  authority  we  inten- 
tionally call — sovereignty  in  the  individual  sphere,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  sharply  and  decidedly  expressed  that  these 
different  developments  of  social  life  have  nothing  above 
themselves  but  God,  and  that  the  State  cannot  intrude  here, 
and  has  nothing  to  command  in  their  domain.  As  you  feel 
at  once,  this  is  the  deeply  interesting  question  of  our 
civil  liberties. 

It  is  here  of  the  highest  importance  sharply  to  keep  in 
mind  the  difference  in  grade  between  the  organic  life  of 
society  and  the  mechanical  character  of  the  government; — 
a  difference,  which  has  been  repeatedly  alluded  to,  but 
which  now  has  to  be  more  fully-  considered. 

Whatever  among  men  originates  directly  from  creation, 
is  possessed  of  all  the  data  for  its  development,  in  human 
nature  as  such. 

You  see  this  at  once  in  the  family  and  in  the  connection 
of  blood  relations  and  other  ties.  From  the  duality  of  man 


CALVINISM   AND    POLITICS.  17 

and  woman  marriage  arises.  From  the  original  existence 
of  one  man  and  one  woman  monogamy  comes  forth.  The 
children  exist  by  reason  of  the  innate  power  of  reproduction. 
Naturally  the  children  are  connected  as  brothers  and  sisters. 
And  when  by  and  by  these  children,  in  their  turn,  marry 
again,  as  a  matter  of  course  all  those  connections  originate 
from  blood-relationship  and  other  ties,  which  dominate  the 
whole  of  family-life. 

In  all  this  there  is  nothing  mechanical.  The  development 
is  spontaneous,  just  as  that  of  the  stem  and  the  branches 
of  a  plant.  True,  sin  here  also  has  exerted  its  disturbing 
influence  and  has  distorted  much  which  was  intended  for 
a  blessing,  into  a  curse.  But  this  fatal  efficiency  of  sin  has 
been  stopped  by  common  grace.  Free-love  may  try  to 
dissolve,  and  the  concubinate  to  desecrate,  the  holiest 
ties,  as  it  pleases,  but,  for  the  vast  majority  of  our  race 
marriage  remains  the  foundation  of  human  society  and 
the  family  retains  its  position,  as  the  primordial  sphere  in 
sociology. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  other  spheres  of  life. 

Nature  about  us  may  have  lost  the  glory  of  paradise,  by 
reason  of  sin,  and  the  earth  may  bear  thorns  and  thistles, 
so  that  we  can  eat  our  bread  only  in  the  sweat  of  our 
brow;  notwithstanding  all  this  the  chief  aim  of  all  human 
effort  remains,  what  it  was  by  virtue  of  our  creation  and 
before  the  fall, — namely  dominion  over  nature.  And  this 
dominion  caunot  be  acquired,  except  by  the  exercise  of  the 
] lowers,  which,  by  virtue  of  the  ordinances  of  creation,  are 
innate  in  nature  itself.  Accordingly  all  Science  is  only  the 
application  to  the  cosmos  of  the  powers  of  investigation 
and  thought,  created  within  us;  and  Art  is  nothing  but 
the  natural  productivity  of  the  life  of  our  imagination. 
When  we  admit  therefore  that  sin,  though  arrested  by 
common  grace,  has  caused  many  modifications  of  these 
several  expressions  of  life,  which  originated  only  after 
paradise  was  lost,  and  will  disappear  again,  with  the  coming 


CALVINISM    AXD   POLITICS.  18 

of  the  Kingdom  of  glory; — we  still  maintain  that  the  fund- 
amental character  of  these  expressions'  remains  as  it  was 
originally.  All  together  they  form  the  life  of  creation,  in 
accord  with  the  ordinances  of  creation,  and  therefore  are 
organically    developed. 

But  the  case  is  wholly  different  with  the  assertion  of  the 
powers  of  government.  For  though  it  be  admitted  that  even 
without  sin  the  need  would  have  asserted  itself  of  combining 
the  many  families,  in  a  higher  unity;  this  unity  would  have 
internally  been  bound  up  in  the  Kingship  of  God,  which  would 
have  ruled  regularly,  directly  and  harmoniously  in  the 
hearts  of  all  men,  and  which  would  externally  have  incor- 
porated itself  in  a  patriarchal  hierarchy.  Thus  no  States 
would  have  existed,  but  only  one  world-empire,  with  God 
as  its  King ;  exactly  what  is  prophesied  for  the  future 
which  awaits  us.  when  all  sin  shall  have  disappeared. 

But  it  is  exactly  this,  which  sin  has  now  eliminated 
from  our  human  life.  This  unity  does  no  longer  exist. 
This  government  of  God  can  no  longer  assert  itself.  This 
patriarchal  hierarchy  has  been  destroyed.  A  world-empire 
neither  can  nor  may  be  established.  For  in  this  very  desire 
consisted  the  contumacy  of  the  building  of  Babel's  tower.  Thus 
peoples  and  nations  originated.  These  peoples  formed  States. 
And  over  these  States  God  appointed  government.  And  thus, 
if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  it  is  not  a  natural  head, 
which  orgauically  grew  from  the  body  of  the  people,  but 
a  mechanical  head,  which  from  without  has  been  placed 
upon  the  trunk  of  the  nation.  A  mere  remedy  therefore, 
for  a  wrong  condition  supervening.  A  stick  placed  by  the 
plant  to  hold  it  up,  since  without  it,  by  reason  of  its 
inherent  weakness,  it  would  fall  to  the  ground. 

The  principal  characteristic  of  government  is  the  right  of  life  . 
and  death.  According  to  the  apostolic  testimony  this  govern- 
ment bears  the  sword,  and  this  sword  has  a  threefold  meaning. 
It  is  the  sword  of. justice,  to  mete  out  corporeal  punish- 
ment  to   the   criminal.     It    is  the  sword  of  war  to  defend 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  19 

the  honor  and  the  rights  and  the  interests  of  the  State 
against  its  enemies.  And  it  is  the  sword  of  peace,  to 
thwart  at  home  all  forcible  rebellion. 

Luther  and  his  co-Reformers  have  correctly  pointed 
out  that  the  institution  proper  and  the  full  investiture 
of  the  magistrate  with  power  was  only  brought  about  after 
the  flood,  when  God  commanded  that  capital  punishment 
should  fall  upon  him  who  shed  man's  blood. 

The  right  of  taking  life  belongs  only  to  Him,  who  can 
give  life,  i.e.  to  God;  and  therefore  no  one  on  earth  is 
invested  with  this  authority,  except  it  be  God-given.  On 
this  account,  Roman  law,  which  committed  the  jus  vitae  et 
necis  to  the  father  and  to  the  slave-owner,  stands  intrinsic- 
ally much  lower,  than  the  law  of  Moses,  which  knows  no 
other  capital  punishment  but  that  by  the  magistrate  and 
at  his  command. 

The  highest  duty  of  the  government  remains  therefore 
unchangeably  that  of  justice,  and  in  the  second  place  it 
has  to  care  for  the  people  as  an  unit,  partly  at  home,  in 
order  that  its  unity  may  grow  ever  deeper  and  may  not 
be  disturbed,  and  partly  abroad,  lest  the  national  existence 
suffer  harm.  The  consequence  of  all  this  is  that  on  the 
one  hand,  in  a  people,  all  sorts  of  organic  phenomena  of 
life  arise,  from  its  social  spheres,  and  that,  high  above 
all  these,  the  mechanical  unifying  force  of  the  government 
is  observable.  From  this  arises  all  friction  and  clashing. 
For  the  government  is  always  inclined,  with  its  mechanical 
authority,  to  invade  social  life,  to  subject  it  and  mechanic- 
ally to  arrange  it.  Thus  does  the  State  strive  for  Omni- 
potence. 

But  on  the  other  hand  social  life  always  endeavors  to 
shake  off  the  authority  of  the  government,  just  as  this 
endeavor  at  the  present  time  again  culminates  in  social- 
democracy  and  in  anarchism,  both  of  which  aim  at  nothing 
less  but  the  total  overthrow  of  the  institution  of  author- 
ity.    But   leaving    these    two    extremes   alone,    it    will    be 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  20 

admitted  that  all  healthy  life  of  people  or  state  has  ever 
been  the  historical  consequence  of  the  struggle  between 
these  two  "  powers.  It  was  the  socalled  constitutional 
public  law,  which  endeavored  more  firmly  to  regulate  the 
mutual  relation  of  these  two.  And  in  this  struggle  Cal- 
vinism was  the  first  to  take  its  stand.  Just  in  proportion 
as  it  honored  the  authority  of  the  magistrate,  instituted  by 
God,  did  it  lift  up  that  second  sovereignty,  which  had 
been  implanted  by  God  in  the  social  spheres,  in  accordance 
with  the  ordinances  of  creation. 

It  demanded  for  both  independence  in  their  own  sphere 
and  regulation  of  the  relation  between  both,  under  the  law. 
And  by  this  stern  demand,  Calviuism  may  be  said  to  have 
generated  constitutional  public  law,  from  its  own  funda- 
mental idea. 

The  testimony  of  history  is  unassailable  that  this  con- 
stitutional public  law  has  not  flourished  in  Roman  Catholic 
or  in  Lutheran  States,  but  among  the  nations  of  a  Calvin- 
istic  type. 

The  idea  is  here  fundamental  therefore  that  the  sover- 
eignty of  God,  in  its  descent  upon  men,  separates  itself 
into  two  spheres.  On  the  one  hand  the  sphere  of 
State-authority  and  on  the  other  hand  the  sphere  of  the 
authority  of  the  Social  circles.  And  in  both  these  spheres 
the  inherent  authority  is  sovereign,  that  is  to  say,  it  has 
above  itself  nothing  but  God. 

And  yet  we  are  not  to  forget  that  the  nature  of  this 
sovereignty,  in  these  two  spheres,  is  not  identical.  In  the 
sphere  of  State-authority  it  compels  mechanical///,  that  is 
externally,  with  the  strong  arm.  In  the  sphere  of  the 
authority  of  social  life,  on  the  contrary,  it  compels  organic- 
ally, that  is  to  say  by  a  moral  and  inherent  force.  And 
whilst  both  are  thus  opposed  to  each  other,  each  having 
its  own  specific  character,  the  family  alone  reveals  an 
intermixture  of  the  two.  Good  parents  rule  morally,  but 
in  extreme  cases  they  also  maintain  discipline. 


CALVINISM   AND   POLITICS.  21 

Now  for  the  mechanically  coercing  authority  of  the  govern- 
ment any  further  explanation  is  superfluous,  not  so  for  the 
organic  social  authority. 

Nowhere  is  the  dominating  character  of  this  organic 
social  authority  more  plainly  discernable  than  in  the 
sphere  of  Science.  In  the  introduction  to  an  edition  of  the 
"Sententiae"  of  Lombard  and  of  the  "Summa  Theologica"  of 
Thomas  Aquinas,  the  learned  Thomist  wTrote : — "The  work 
of  Lombard  has  ruled  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  and  has 
produced  Thomas,  and  after  him  the 'Summa' of  Thomas  has 
ruled  all  Europe  (totam  Europam  rexit)  during  five  full 
centuries  and  has  generated  all  the  subsequent  Theologians".* 
Suppose  we  admit  that  this  language  is  overbold,  yet  the 
idea,  here  expressed,  is  unquestionably  correct.  The  dominion 
of  men  like  Aristotle  and  Plato,  Lombard  and  Thomas, 
Luther  and  Calvin,  Kant  and  Hegel,  extends,  for  each 
of  them,  over  a  field  of  man}'  ages. 

Genius  is  a  sovereign  power;  it  forms  schools,  it  lays 
hold  on  the  spirits  of  men,  with  irresistible  might;  and 
it  exercises  an  immeasurable  influence  on  the  whole  con- 
dition of  human  life.  This  sovereignty  of  genius  is  a  gift 
of  God,  possessed  only  by  His  Grace.  It  is  subject  to  no 
one  and  is  responsible  to  Him  alone  Who  has  granted 
it  this  ascendency. 

The  same  phenomenon  is  observable  in  the  sphere  of 
Art.  Every  master-artist  is  a  king  in  the  Palace  of  Art, 
not  by  the  law  of  inheritance  or  by  appointment,  but 
only  by  the  grace  of  God.  And  these  maestros  also  impose 
authority,  and  are  subject  to  no  one,  but  rule  over  all  and 
in  the  end  receive  from  all  the  homage  due  to  their 
artistic  superiority. 

And  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  sovereign  power  of 
personality.  There  is  no  equality  of  persons.  There  are 
weak  narrow  minded  persons,  with  no  broader  expanse  of 
wings    than   a  common  sparrow;  but  there  are  also  broad, 


*  Edition  of  Migne  at  Paris  1841.  Tome  I,  proof  1. 


CALVINISM   AND    POLITICS.  22 

imposing  characters,  with  the  wing-stroke  of  the  eagle. 
Among  the  last  you  will  find  a  few  of  royal  grandeur 
and  these  rule  in  their  own  sphere,  whether  people  draw 
back  from  them  or  antagonize  them;  usually  waxing  all 
the  stronger,  the  more  they  are  opposed.  And  this  entire 
process  is  carried  out  in  all  the  spheres  of  life.  In  the 
labor  of  the  mechanic,  in  the  shop,  or  on  the  exchange,  in 
commerce,  on  the  sea,  in  the  held  of  benevolence  and 
philanthropy.  Everywhere  one  man  is  more  powerful  than 
the  other,  by  his  personality,  by  his  talent  and  by  circum- 
stances. Dominion  is  exercised  everywhere,  but  it  is  a 
dominion,  which  works  organically;  not  by  virtue  of  a 
State-investiture,  but  from  life's  sovereignty  itself. 

In  relation  herewith,  and  on  entirely  the  same  ground  of 
organic  superiority,  there  exists,  side  by  side  with  this  per- 
sonal sovereignty,  the  sovereignty  of  the  sphere.  The  uni- 
versity exercises  scientific  dominion;  the  Academy  of  fine 
arts  is  possessed  of  art-power ;  the  guild  exercised  a  technic- 
al dominion;  the  trades-union  rules  over  labor; — and  each 
of  these  spheres  or  corporations  is  conscious  of  the  power 
of  exclusive  independent  judgment  and  authoritative  action, 
within  its  proper  sphere  of  operation.  Behind  these  organic 
spheres,  with  intellectual,  aesthetical  and  technical  sover- 
eignty, the  sphere  of  the  family  opens  itself,  with  its  right 
of  marriage,  domestic  peace,  education  and  possession;  and 
in  this  sphere  also  the  natural  head  is  conscious  of  exercis- 
ing an  inherent  authority, — not  because  the  government 
allows  it,  but  because  God  has  imposed  it.  Paternal 
authority  roots  itself  in  the  very  life-blood  and  is  proclaim- 
ed in  the  fifth  Commandment. 

And  so  also  finally  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  social  life 
of  cities  and  villages  forms  a  sphere  of  existence,  which 
arises  from  the  very  necessities  of  life,  and  which  therefore 
must  be  autonomous. 

In  many  different  directions  we  see  therefore  that  sover- 
eignty in  one's  own  sphere  asserts  itself — 1°  in  the  personal 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  23 

sphere,  by  personal  superiority  ;  2°  in  the  corporative  sphere 
of  universities,  guilds,  associations,  etc;  3o  in  the  domestic 
sphere  of  the  family  and  of  married  life;  and  4°  in  communal 
autonomy. 

In  all  these  four  spheres  the  government  cannot  impose 
its  laws,  but  must  reverence  the  innate  law  of  life.  God 
rules  in  these  spheres,  just  as  supremely  and  sovereignly 
as  He  exercises  dominion  in  the  sphere  of  the  State,  through 
the  government. 

Bound  bjr  its  own  mandate  therefore  the  government  may 
neither  ignore  nor  modify  nor  disrupt  the  divine  mandate, 
under  which  these  spheres  stand. 

The  sovereignty,  by  the  grace  of  God.  of  the  government 
is  here  set  aside  and  limited,  for  God's  sake,  by  another 
sovereignty,  which  is  equally  divine  in  origin.  Neither  the  life 
of  science  or  nor  of  art,  nor  of  agriculture,  nor  of  industry,  nor 
of  commerce;  nor  of  navigation,  nor  of  the  family,  nor  of 
human  relationship  may  be  coerced  to  suit  itself  to  the 
Grace  of  the  government. 

The  State  may  never  become  an  octopus,  which  stifles  the 
whole  of  life. 

It  must  occupy  its  own  place,  on  its  own  root,  among 
all  the  other  trees  of  the  forest,  and  thus  it  has  to 
honour  and  maintain  every  form  of  life,  which  grows 
independently,  in  its  own  sacred  autonomy. 

Does  this  mean  that  the  government  has  no  right  what- 
ever of  interference  in  these  autonomous  spheres  of  life  ? 
Not  at  all. 

It  possesses  the  threefold  right  and  duty:  1°  whenever 
different  spheres  clash,  to  compel  mutual  regard  for  the 
boundary-lines  of  each;  2°  to  defend  individuals  and  the 
weak  ones,  in  those  spheres,  against  the  abuse  of  power 
of  the  rest;  and  3°  to  coerce  all  together  to  bear  personal 
and  financial  burdens  for  the  maintenance  of  the  natural 
unity  of  the  State. 

But  in  this  way  exactby  friction  is  created  and  thus  the 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  24 

danger  of  a  clash  arises.  The  decision  cannot,  in  these 
cases,  unilaterally  rest  with  the  Government.  The  law 
here  has  to  indicate  the  rights  of  each,  and  the  rights  of 
the  citizens  over  their  own  parses  must  remain  the  invincible 
bulwark  against  the  abuse  of  power  on  the  part  of  the 
government. 

And  here  exactly  lies  the  starting-point  for  that  cooper- 
ation of  the  sovereignty  of  the  government,  with  the 
sovereignty  in  the  social  sphere,  which  finds  its  regulation 
in  the  Constitution. 

According  to  the  order  of  things,  in  his  time,  this 
became  to  Calvin  the  doctrine  of  the  "magistratus  inferiores". 

Knighthood,  the  rights  of  the  city,  the  rights  of  guilds 
and  much  more,  led  then  to  the  self-assertion  of  social 
"States",  with  their  own  civil  authority ;  now  Calvin 
wished  the  law  to  be  made  by  the  cooperation  of  these 
with  the  High  magistrates,  and  so  by  laws  he  caused  the 
abuse  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  magistrates  to  be  restricted. 

Since  that  time  these  medieval  relations,  which  in  part 
arose  from  the  feudal-system,  have  become  totally  antiquated. 

These  corporations  or  social  orders  are  now  no  longer 
invested  with  ruling  power,  their  place  is  taken  by 
Parliament,  or  whatever  name  the  general  house  of 
representatives  may  bear  in  different  countries,  and  now  it 
remains  the  duty  of  those  Assemblies  to  maintain  the 
popular  rights  and  liberties  of  all  and  in  the  name  of  all, 
with  and  if  need  be  against  the  government. 

This  united  defense  was  preferred  to  individual  resistance, 
both  to  simplify  the  construction  and  operation  of  State 
institutions  and  to  accelerate  their  functions. 

But  in  whatever  way  the  form  may  be  modified,  it  remains 
essentially  the  old  Calvinistic  plan,  to  assure  to  the 
people,  in  all  its  classes  and  orders,  in  all  its  circles  and 
spheres,  in  all  its  corporations  and  independent  institutions, 
a  legal  and  orderly  influence  in  the  making  of  the  laws  and 
the    course   of  government,  in  a  healthy  democratic  sense. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  25 

The  only  difference  of  opinion  is  yet  on  the  important 
question,  whether  we  shall  continue  in  the  now  prevailing 
solution  of  the  special  rights  of  those  social  spheres  in  the 
individual  right  of  franchise;  or  whether  it  is  desirable  to 
place  by  its  side  a  corporative  right  of  franchise,  which 
shall  enable  the  different  circles  to  make  a  separate  defense. 

At  present  a  new  tendency  to  organization  reveals  itself 
even  in  the  spheres  of  commerce  and  industry  and  not 
less  in  that  of  labor,  and  even  from  France  voices  arise, 
which  clamor  for  the  juncture  of  the  right  of  franchise 
with  these  organizations. 

I  for  one,  would  welcome  such  a  move,  provided  its  applic- 
ation were  not  onesided,  much  less  exclusive ;  but  I  may 
not  linger  over  these  side  issues. 

I  set  out  in  the  main  to  show  how  Calvinism, — by  the 
maintenance  even  in  the  social  spheres  of  life,  of  a  God- 
given  right  and  sovereign  authority — protests  against 
State-omnipotence,  against  the  horrible  conception  that  no 
right  exists  above  and  beyond  existing  laws ;  and  against  the 
pride  of  absolutism,  which  recognizes  no  constitutional 
rights,  except  as  the  result  of  princely  favor. 

These  three  representations,  which  find  so  dangerous  a 
nourishment  in  the  ascendency  of  Pantheism,  are  death 
to  our  civil  liberties.  And  Calvinism  is  to  be  praised  for 
having  built  a  dam  across  this  absolutistic  stream,  not  by 
appealing  to  popular  force,  nor  to  the  hallucination  of 
human  greatness,  but  by  deducing  those  rights  and  liberties 
of  social  life  from  the  same  source,  from  which  the  high 
authority  of  the  government  flows — even  the  absolute  sover- 
eignty of  God.  From  this  one  source,  in  God,  sovereignty 
in  the  individual  sphere,  in  the  family  and  in  every  social 
circle,  is  just  as  directly  derived  as  the  supremacy  of 
State-authority.  These  two  must  therefore  come  to  an 
understanding,  and  both  have  an  equally  sacred  obligation 
to  maintain  their  God-given  sovereign  authority  and  to 
make  it  subservient  to  the  majesty  of  God. 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  26 

A  people,  which  abandons  to  State  Supremacy  the  right 
of  the  family,  or  a  University  which  abandons  to  it 
the  rights  of  science,  is  just  as  guilty  before  God,  as  a 
nation  which  lays  its  hands  upon  the  rights  of  the  magi- 
strates. And  thus  the  struggle  for  liberty  is  not  only 
declared  permissible,  but  is  made  a  duty  for  each  individual 
in  his  own  sphere.  And  this  not  as  was  done  in  the  French 
Revolution,  by  setting  God  aside  and  by  placing  man  on 
the  throne  of  God's  Omnipotence ;  but  on  the  contrary,  by 
causing  all  men.  the  magistrates  included,  to  bow,  in 
deepest  humility    before  the  majesty  of  God  Almighty. 


As  third  and  last  part  of  this  lecture,  the  discussion 
remains  of  a  question  yet  more  difficult  than  the  previous 
one,  namely  how  we  must  conceive  of  the  Sovereignty  of 
the  Church  in  the  state. 

I  call  this  a  difficult  problem,  not  because  I  am  in 
doubt  as  to  the  conclusions,  or  because  I  doubt  your  assent 
to  these  conclusions.  For,  as  far  as  regards  American  life, 
all  uncertainty  in  this  respect  is  removed  by  what  your 
Constitution  at  first  declared— and  has  later  been  modified  in 
your  Confessions — concerning  the  liberty  of  worship  and 
the  separation  of  Church  and  State.  And  as  far  as  1  am 
personally  concerned,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  I  wrote  above  my  Weekly  paper  the  motto —  "A  free 
Church  in  a  free  State."  In  a  hard  struggle  this  motto  has 
ever  been  lifted  on  high  by  me  and  our  churches  also  are 
about  to  reconsider  the  article  in  our  Confession  which 
touches  on  this  matter. 

The  difficulty  of  the  problem  lies  elsewhere.  It  lies  in  the 
pile  and  fagots  of  Servetus.  It  lies  in  the  attitude  of  the  Pres- 
byterians toward  the  Independents.  It  lies  in  the  restrictions 
of  liberty  of  worship  and  in  the  "civil  disabilities",  under 
which  for  centuries  even  in  the  Netherlands,  the  Roman 
Catholics  have  suffered.  The  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  an 


CALVINISM   AND   POLITICS.  27 

article  of  our  old  Calviuistic  Confession  of  Faith  entrusts 
to  the  government  the  task,  "of  defending  against  and  of 
extirpating  every  form  of  idolatry  and  false  religion  and 
to  protect  the  sacred  service  of  the  Church."  The  difficulty 
lies  in  the  unanimous  and  uniform  advice  of  Calvin  and  his 
epigones,  who  demanded  intervention  of  the  government 
in  the  matter  of  religion.  And  still  more  apparent  is  this 
difficulty  from  the  undeniahle  fact  that  it  has  frequently  heen 
Baptists  and  Remonstrants  who,  for  three  successive  centuries. 
have  defended  this  system  of  a  free  church,  against  the 
Calvinists. 

The  accusation  is  therefore  a  natural  one  that,  by  choosing 
in  favor  of  liberty  of  religion,  we  do  not  pick  up  the 
gauntlet  for  Calvinism,  but  that  we  directly  oppose  it. 

In  order  to  shield  myself  from  this  undesirable  suspicion, 
I  advance  the  rule — that  a  system  is  not  known  by  what 
it  has  in  common  with  other  preceding  systems ;  but  that 
it  is  distinguished  by  that  in  which  it  differs  from  those 
preceding  systems. 

The  duty  of  the  government  to  extirpate  every  form  of 
false  religion  and  idolatry,  dates  from  Constantine  the 
Great,  and  was  the  reaction  against  the  horrible  persecu- 
tions which  his  pagan  predecessors,  on  the  imperial  throne, 
had  inflicted  upon  the  sect  of  the  Nazarene.  Since  that 
day  this  system  has  been  defended  by  all  Romish  theo- 
logians and  applied  by  all  Christian  princes.  In  the  time 
of  Luther  and  Calvin,  it  was  a  uuiversal  conviction  that 
that  system  was  the  true  one.  Every  famous  theologian 
of  the  period,  Melanchton  first  of  all,  approved  of  the 
death  by  fire  of  Servetus ;  and  the  scaffold,  which  was 
erected  at  Leipzic  for  Krell,  the  thorough-Calvinists,  was 
infinitely  more  reprehensible,  when  looked  at  from  a 
protestant  standpoint. 

But  whilst  the  Calvinists,  in  the  age  of  the  Reformation, 
yielded  their  victims,  by  tens  of  thousands,  to  the  scaffold 
and  the  stake,  (those  of  the  Lutherans  and  Roman  Catholics 


CALVINISM   AND   POLITICS.  28 

being  hardly  worth  counting),  history  has  been  guilty 
of  the  great  and  far-reaching  unfairness  of  ever  casting 
in  their  teeth  this  one  execution  b}r  fire  of  Servetus,  as  a 
crimen  nefandum. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  I  do  net  only  lament  that  one 
stake,  but  I  do  unconditionally  disapprove  of  it;  yet  not  as  if 
it  were  the  expression  of  a  special  characteristic  of  Calvinism, 
but  on  the  contrary  as  the  fatal  expression  of  a  system, 
grey  with  age,  which  Calvinism  found  in  existence,  under 
which  it  had  grown  up,  and  from  which  it  had  not  yet  been 
able  entirely  to  liberate  itself. 

If  I  desire  to  know  what  in  this  respect  must  follow  from 
the  specific  principles  of  Calvinism,  then  the  question  must 
be  put  quite  differently. 

Then  we  must  see  and  acknowledge  that  this  system  of 
bringing  differences  in  religious  matters  under  the  crim- 
inal jurisdiction  of  the  government,  results  directly  from 
the  conviction  that  the  Church  of  Christ  on  earth  can 
express  itself  only  in  one  form  and  as  one  institution. 

This  one  church  alone  was  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
everything,  which  differed  from  her,  was  looked  upon  as 
inimical  to  this  one  true  church. 

The  government,  therefore,  was  not  called  upon  to  judge, 
or  to  weigh,  or  to  decide  for  itself.  There  was  only  one 
Church  of  Christ  on  earth,  and  it  was  the  task  of  the 
Magistrate  to  protect  that  church  from  schisms,  heresies 
and  sects. 

But  break  that  one  Church  into  fragments,  admit  that 
the  Church  of  Christ  can  reveal  itself  in  many  forms,  in 
different  countries;  nay  even  in  the  same  country,  in  a 
multiplicity  of  institutions;  and  immediately  everything, 
which  was  deduced  from  this  unity  of  the  visible  church, 
drops  out  of  sight. 

If  it  cannot  be  denied  that  Calvinism  itself  has 
ruptured  the  unity  of  the  church,  and  that  in  Calvinistic 
countries  a  rich  variety  of  all  manner  of  church-formations 


CALVINISM    VXD    POLITICS.  29 


revealed  itself,  then  it  follows  that  we  must  not  seek  the 
true  Calvinistic  characteristic  in  what,  for  a  time,  it  has 
retained  of  the  old  system,  but  rather  in  that,  which,  new 
and  fresh,  has  sprung  up  from  its  own  root. 

Results  have  shown  that,  even  after  the  lapse  of  three 
centuries,  in  all  distinctive  Roman  Catholic  countries,  even 
in  the  South  American  Republics,  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  is  and  remains  the  State-church,  precisely  as  does 
the  Lutheran  church  in  Lutheran  countries.  And  the  free 
church  has  exclusively  flourished  in  those  countries,  which 
were  touched  by  the  breath  of  Calvinism,  i.  e.,  in  Switzer- 
land, the  Netherlands,  England,  Scotland  and  the  United 
States    of  North  America. 

In  Roman  Catholic  countries,  the  identification  of  the 
invisible  and  the  visible  church,  under  papal  unity,  is  still 
maintained.  In  Lutheran  countries,  with  the  aid  of  "cuius 
regio  eius  religio",  the  Court-confession  has  been  monstrously 
imposed  on  the  people  as  the  land-confession ;  there  the  Re- 
formed were  treated  harshly,  they  were  exiled  and  out- 
raged, as  enemies  of  Christ,  and  at  Leipsic  Krell  has  even 
been  condemned  to  death.  In  the  Calvinistic  Netherlands, 
on  the  contrary,  all  those  who  were  persecuted  for  relig- 
ion's sake,  found  a  harbor  of  refuge.  There  the  Jews 
were  hospitably  received;  there  the  Martinists  were  in 
honor ;  there  the  Mennonites  flourished ;  and  even  the 
Remonstrants  and  Catholics  were  permitted  the  free  exer- 
cise of  their  religion  at  home  and  in  secluded  churches. 
The  Independents,  driven  from  England,  have  found  a 
resting  place  for  the  soles  of  their  feet  in  the  Calvinistic 
Netherlands;  and  from  this  same  country  the  Mayflower 
sailed  forth  to  transport  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  to  their  new 
fatherland. 

I  do  not  build  therefore  on  subterfuge,  but  1  appeal  to 
clear  historical  facts.  And  here  I  repeat— the  deep  lying 
characteristic  of  Calvinism  must  be  sought,  not  in  what  it 
has  adopted  from  the  past,  but  in  what  it  has  newly  created. 


CALVINISM   AND   POLITICS.  SO 


It  is  remarkable,  in  this  connection,  that,  from  the  very 
beginning,  our  Calvinistic  Theologians  and  jurists  have 
defended  liberty  of  conscience  against  the  Inquisition.  Rome 
perceived  very  clearly  how  liberty  of  conscience  must  loosen 
the  foundations  of  the  unity  of  the  church  and  therefore 
she  antagonized  it.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  Calvinism,  by  praising  aloud  liberty  of  con- 
science, has  in  principle  abandoned  every  absolute  charac- 
teristic of  the  visible  church. 

As  soon  as  in  the  bosom  of  one  and  the  same  people 
the  conscience  of  one  half  witnessed  against  that  of  the 
other  half,  the  breach  had  been  accomplished  and  placards 
were  no  longer  of  any  avail. 

As  early  as  1649  it  was  declared  that  persecution,  for 
faith's  sake,  was— "a  spiritual  murder,  an  assassination  of 
the  soul,  a  rage  against  God  himself,  the  most  horrible 
of  sins". 

And  it  is  evident  that  Calvin  himself  wrote  down  the 
premises  of  the  correct  conclusion,  by  his  acknowledg- 
ment that  against  atheists  even  the  Catholics  are  our 
allies;  by  his  open  recognition  of  the  Lutheran  Church; 
and  still  more  emphatically  by  his  pertinent  declaration: 
"Scimus  tres  esse  errorum  gradus,  et  quibus  dam  fate- 
mur  dandam  esse  veniam,  aliis  modicam  castigationem 
sufricere,  ut  tantum  manifesta  impietas  capitali  supplitio 
plectatur.  *  That  is  to  say:  "There  exists  a  threefold 
departure  from  the  Christian  truth;  a  slight  one,  which 
had  better  be  left  alone ;  a  moderate  one,  which  must  be 
restored  by  a  moderate  chastisement;  and  only  manifest 
godlessness  must  be  capitally  punished".  I  admit  that  this  is 
still  a  harsh  decision,  but  yet  a  decision  in  which  in  prin- 
ciple the  visible  unity  is  discarded;  and  where  that  unity 
is  broken,  there  liberty  will  dawn  as  a  matter  of  course. 
With    Rome    the    system   of   persecution    issued    from  the 


Tome  VIII  p.  510c  Ed.  Schippers. 


CALVINISM   AND    POLITICS.  31 

identification  of  the  visible  with  the  invisible  church,  and 
from  this  dangerous  line  Calvin  departed,  but  what  he  persev- 
ered in  defending  was  the  identification  of  our  Confession 
of  the  Truth  with  the  absolute  Truth  itself,  and  it  only 
wanted  fuller  experience  to  realize  that  this  proposition, 
true  as  it  must  ever  remain  in  our  personal  conviction, 
may  never  be  imposed  by  force  upon  other  people. 

So  much  for  the  facts.  Now  let  us  put  the  theory 
itself  to  the  test  and  look  successively  at  the  duty 
of  the  magistrate  in  things  spiritual:  1".  towards  God. 
2°.  towards  the  Church,  and  3".  towards  individuals.  As 
regards  the  first  point,  the  magistrates  are  and  remain— 
"God's  servants."  They  have  to  recognize  God  as  supreme 
ruler,  from  whom  they  derive  their  power.  They  have  to 
serve  God,  by  ruling  the  people  according  to  His  ordinances. 
They  have  to  restrain  blasphemy,  where  it  directly  assumes 
the  character  of  an  affront  to  the  divine  majesty.  And 
God's  supremacy  is  to  be  recognized,  by  confessing  His 
name  in  the  Constitution,  by  maintaining  the  Sabbath,  by 
proclaiming  days  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  and  by 
invoking  His  divine  blessing. 

Therefore  in  order  that  they  may  govern,  according  to 
His  holy  ordinances,  every  magistrate  is  in  duty  bound  to 
investigate  the  rights  of  God,  both  in  the  natural  life  and 
His  Word.  Not  to  subject  himself  to  the  decision  of  any  church, 
but  in  order  that  he  himself  may  catch  the  light  which 
he  needs  for  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  will.  And  as 
regards  blasphemy,  the  right  of  the  magistrates  to  restrain 
it  rests  in  the  God-consciousness  innate  in  every  man; 
and  the  duty  to  exercise  this  right  flows  from  the  fact 
that  God  is  the  supreme  and  sovereign  Ruler  over  every 
State  and  over  every  Nation.  But  for  this  very  reason  the 
fact  of  blasphemy  is  only  then  to  be  deemed  established, 
when  the  intention  is  apparent  contumaciously  to  affront 
this  majesty  of  God  as  supreme  Ruler  of  the  State.  What 
is  then  punished  is  not  the  religious  offense,  nor  the  impious 


CALVINISM   AXD   POLITICS.  32 

sentiment,  but  the  attack  upon  the  foundation  of  public  law, 
upon  which  both  the  State  and  its  government  are  resting. 

Meanwhile  there  is  in  this  respect  a  noteworthy  differ- 
ence between  States  which  are  absolutely  governed  b}r 
a  monarch,  and  States  which  are  governed  constitutionally  ; 
or  in  a  republic,  in  a  still  wider  range,  by  an  extensive 
assembly. 

In  the  absolute  monarch  the  consciousness  and  the  per- 
sonal will  are  one  and  thus  this  one  person  is  called  to 
rule  his  people  after  his  own  personal  conception  of  the 
ordinances  of  God.  When  on  the  contrary  the  conscious- 
ness and  the  will  of  many  cooperate,  this  unity  is  lost  and 
the  subjective  conception  of  the  ordinances  of  God,  by  these 
many,  can  only  be  indirectly  applied.  But  whether  you  are 
dealing  with  the  will  of  a  single  individual,  or  with  the 
will  of  many  men,  in  a  decision  arrived  at  by  a  vote,  the 
principal  thing  remains  that  the  government  has  to  judge 
and  to  decide  independently.  Not  as  an  appendix  to  the 
Church,  nor  as  its  pupil.  The  sphere  of  State  stands  itself 
under  the  majesty  of  the  Lord.  In  that  sphere  therefore 
an  independent  responsibility  to  God  is  to  be  maintained. 
The  ecclesiastical  estate  is  not  sacred;  and  that  of  the 
State  outside  of  it  is  not  profane.  But  both  Church  and 
State  must,  each  in  their  own  sphere,  obey  God  and  serve 
His  honor.  And  to  that  end  in  either  sphere  God's  Word 
must  rule,  but  in  the  sphere  of  the  State  only  through  the 
conscience  of  the  persons  invested  with  authority.  The 
first  thing  of  course  is  and  remains  that  all  nations  shall 
be  governed  in  a  Christian  way;  that  is  to  say  in  accord- 
ance withj  the  principle  which,  for  all  statecraft,  flow 
from  the  Christ.  But  this  can  never  be  realized  except 
through  the  subjective  convictions  of  those  in  authority, 
according  to  their  personal  views  of  the  demands  of  that 
Christian  principle,  as  regards  the  public  service. 


CALVINISM    AND   POLITICS.  33 


Of  an    entirely    different    nature   is  the  second  question, 
what  ought  to  be  the  relation  between  the  government  and 
the    visible    Church.     If   it    had    been   the    will    of   God  to 
maintain  the  formal  unity  of  this  visible  Church,  this  ques- 
tion   would    have    to    be    answered    quite  differently  from 
what    is    now  the   case.     That   this   unity   was   originally 
sought   is    natural.     Unity    of  religion  has  great  value  for 
the    life   of    a   people    and    not  a  little  charm.     And  only 
narrowmindedness    can    feel    itself   offended,    by    the    rage 
of   despair,    wherewith  Koine,  in  the  16th  century,  fought 
for    the  maintenance   of  that  unity.     It  can  also  be  easily 
understood    that    this    unity    was    originally    established. 
The    lower    a    people    stands    in  the  scale  of  development, 
the  less  difference  of  opinion  is  revealed.    We  see  therefore 
that     nearly    all     nations     begin     with    unity    of   religion. 
But  it  is  equally  natural  that  this  unity  is  split  up.  where 
the    individual    life,    in    the   process  of  development,  gains 
in    strength,   and  where  multiformity  asserts  itself,  as  the 
undeniable   demand    of  a  richer  development  of  life.     And 
thus    we    are    confronted    with    the    fact    that    the  visible 
church  has  been  split  up,  and  that  in  no  country  whatever 
the  absolute  unity  of  the  visible  church  can  be  any  longer 
maintained. 

What  then  is  the  duty  of  the  government? 
Must  it  — for  the  question  may  be  reduced  to  this, — must 
it  now  form  an  individual  judgment,  as  to  which  of  those 
many  churches  is  the  true  one?  And  must  it  maintain  this 
one  over  against  the  others  ?  Or  is  it  the  duty  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  suspend  its  own  judgment  and  to  consider 
the  multiform  complex  of  all  these  denominations,  as 
the  totality  of  the  manifestation  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
on  earth? 

From  a  Calvinistic  standpoint  we  must  decide  in  favor 
of  the  latter  suggestion.  Not  from  a  false  idea  of  neutral- 
ity, nor  as  if  Calvinism  could  ever  be  indifferent  to  what  is 
true  and  what  false,  but  because  the  government  lacks  the 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  34 

data  of  judgment  and  because  every  magisterial  judgment 
here  infringes  the  sovereignty  of  the  Church.  For  otherwise, 
if  the  government  be  an  absolute  monarchy,  you  get  the 
"cuius  regio  eius  religio"  of  the  Lutheran  princes,  which 
has  ever  been  combated,  from  the  side  of  Calvinism.  Or 
if  the  government  rests  with  a  plurality  of  persons,  the 
Church  which  yesterday  wTas  counted  the  false  one,  is 
to-day  considered  the  true  one,  according  to  the  decision 
of  the  vote ;  and  thus  all  continuity  of  state-administra- 
tion and  church  position  is  lost. 

Hence  it  is  that  the  Calvinists  have  always  struggled  so 
proudly  and  courageously  lor  the  liberty,  that  is  to  say  for  the 
sovereignty,  of  the  Church,  within  her  own  sphere,  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  Lutheran  theologians.  In  Christ,  they  con- 
tended, the  Church  has  her  own  king.  Her  position  in  the  State 
is  not  assigned  her  by  the  permission  of  the  Government, 
but  jure  divino.  She  has  her  own  organisation.  She  pos- 
sesses her  own  office-bearers,  and  in  a  similar  way  she 
has  her  own  gifts  to  distinguish  truth  from  the  lie.  It  is 
therefore  her  privilege,  and  not  that  of  the  State,  to  deter- 
mine her  own  characteristics  as  the  true  Church  and  to 
proclaim  her  own  confession,  as  the  confession  of  the  truth. 

If  in  this  position  she  is  opposed  by  other  churches,  she 
will  fight  against  these  her  spiritual  battle,  with  spiritual  and 
social  weapons ;  but  she  denies  and  contests  the  right  of 
every  one  whomsoever,  and  therefore  also  of  the  govern- 
ment, to  pose  as  a  power  above  these  different  institutions 
and  to  render  a  decision  between  her  and  her  sister- 
churches.  The  government  bears  the  sword  which  wounds; 
not  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  decides  in  spiritual 
questions.  And  for  this  reason  the  Calvinists  have  ever 
resisted  the  idea  to  assign  to  the  government  a  pal  rut 
pofeslas.  To  be  sure  a  father  regulates  in  his  family  the 
religion  of  that  family.  But  when  the  government  was 
organized,  the  family  was  not  set  aside,  but  it  remained, 
and    the    government   received  only  a  limited  task,  which 


CALVINISM   AND   POLITICS.  35 

is  defined  by  the  sovereignty  in  the  individual  sphere 
and  not  least  of  all  by  the  sovereignty  of  Christ  in  His 
Church.  Only  let  us  guard  here  against  exaggerated  Puritism 
and  let  us  not  refuse,  in  Europe  at  least,  to  reckon  with 
the  effects  of  historical  conditions.  It  is  an  entirely 
different  matter  whether  one  puts  up  a  new  building,  on  a  free 
lot,  or  whether  one  must  restore  a  house,  which  is  standing. 

But  this  can  in  no  regard  break  the  fundamental  rule 
that  the  government  must  honor  the  complex  of  Christian 
churches,  as  the  multiform  manifestation  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  on  earth.  •  That  it  has  to  respect  the  liberty  i.  e. 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  the  individual 
sphere  of  these  churches.  That  those  churches  flourish 
most  richly,  when  the  government  allows  them  to  live 
from  their  own  strength  on  the  voluntary  principle.  And 
that  therefore  neither  the  Caesaropapy  of  the  Czar  of 
Russia;  nor  the  subjection  of  the  State  to  the  Church, 
taught  by  Rome ;  nor  the  "Cuius  regio  eius  religio"  of  the 
Lutheran  jurists;  nor  the  irreligious  neutral  standpoint  of 
the  French  revolution;  but  that  only  the  system  of  a  free 
Church,  in  a  free  State,  may  be  honored  from  a  Calvinistic 
standpoint. 

A  standpoint,  which  demands  two  things;  in  the  first 
place — that  the  government  shall  give  ear  to  the  churches 
as  the  interested  parties,  in  everything  pertaining  to 
religion;  and  in  the  second  place — that  the  government, 
in  her  civic  sphere,  shall  keep  her  own  way  and  shall  not 
tolerate  that  a  religious  fraction, — say  in  the  matter  of 
monogamy  or  in  any  other  point  of  civil  law. — should 
antagonize  the  statute  of  the  State. 

The  sovereignty  of  the  State  and  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Church  exist  side  by  side  and  they  mutually  limit  each  other. 


Of  an   entirely   different   nature,  on  the  contrary,  is  the 
last  question,  to  which  I  referred,  namely  the  duty  of  the 


CALVINISM    AND    POLITICS.  36 

government,  as  regards  the  sovereignty  of  tin-  individual  person. 

In  the  second  part  of  this  lecture  I  have  already  indicated 
that  the  developed  man  also  possesses  an  individual  sphere 
of  life,  with  sovereignty  in  his  own  circle. 

Here  I  do  not  refer  to  the  family,  for  this  is  a  social 
bond  between  several  individuals.  I  have  reference  to  that, 
which  is  thus  expressed  by  Prof.  Weitbrecht :  „Ist  doch 
vennoge  seines  gewissens  jeder  ein  Konig,  ein  Souverain, 
der  fiber  jede  Verautwortung  erhaben  is."  *)  ("Every  man 
stands  a  king  in  his  conscience,  a  sovereign  in  his  own 
person,  exempt  from  all  responsibility.")  Or  that,  which 
Held  has  formulated  in  this  way:  ,,In  gewisser  Beziehung 
wird  jeder  Mensch  supremus  oder  Souverain  sein,  denn  jeder 
Mensch  muss  erne  Sphiire  haben,  und  hat  sie  audi  wirklich, 
in  welcher  er  der  Oberste  ist."  f)  (In  some  respect  every 
man  is  a  sovereign,  for  everybody  must  have  and  has,  a  sphere 
of  life  of  his  own,  in  which  he  has  no  one  above  him,  but 
God  alone.)  I  do  not  point  to  this  to  overestimate  the 
importance  of  conscience,  for  whosoever  wishes  to  liberate 
conscience,  where  God  and  His  Word  are  concerned,  I  meet 
as  an  opponent  not  as  an  ally.  This  however  does  not 
prevent  my  maintaining  the  sovereignty  of  conscience,  as 
the  palladium  of  all  personal  liberty,  in  this  sense — that 
conscience  is  never  subject  to  man  but  always  and  ever 
to  God  Almighty. 

This  need  of  the  personal  liberty  of  conscience  however, 
does  not  immediately  assert  itself.  It  does  not  express  itself 
with  emphasis  in  the  child,  but  only  in  the  mature  man ; 
and  in  the  same  way  it  mostly  slumbers  among  undeveloped 
peoples  and  is  irresistible  only  among  highly  developed 
nations.  A  man  of  ripe  and  rich  development  will  rather 
become  a  voluntary  exile,  will  rather  suffer  imprisonment, 
nay  even  sacrifice  life  itself,  than  tolerate  constraint  in 
the    forum    of    his    conscience.     And    the    deeply    rooted 


-    Weitbrecht,  Vfoker  und    Wohin.  Stuttgart  1877  p.   103. 
■{■)  Held,  Verfassungsystem  I  p.  234. 


CALVINISM   AND   POLITICS.  37 


repugnance  against  the  Inquisition,  which  for  three  long 
centuries  would  not  be  assuaged,  grew  up  from  the  con- 
viction that  its  practices  violated  and  assaulted  human 
life  in  man.  This  imposes  on  the  government  a  twofold 
obligation.  In  the  first  place  that  it  must  cause  this 
liberty  of  conscience  to  be  respected  by  the  Church;  and 
in  the  second  place  that  it  must  give  way  itself  to  the 
sovereign  conscience. 

As  regards  the  first,  the  sovereignty  of  the  Church  finds 
its  natural  limitation  in  the  sovereignty  of  the  free  person- 
ality. Sovereign  within  her  own  domain,  she  has  no  power 
over  those  who  live  outside  of  that  sphere.  And  wherever, 
in  violation  of  this  principle,  transgression  of  power  may 
occur,  the  government  has  to  respect  the  claims  on  pro- 
tection of  every  citizen.  The  Church  may  not  be  forced 
to  tolerate  as  a  member  one  whom  she  feels  obliged  to 
expel  from  her  circle;  but  on  the  other  hand  no  citizen  of 
the  State  must  be  compelled  to  remain  in  a  church  which 
his  conscience  forces  him  to  leave. 

Meantime  what  the  government  in  this  respect  demands 
of  the  churches,  it  must  practise  itself,  by  allowing  to  each 
and  every  citizen  liberty  of  conscience,  as  the  primordial 
and  inalienable  right  of  all  men. 

It  has  cost  an  heroic  struggle  to  wrest  this  greatest  of 
all  human  liberties  from  the  grasp  of  despotism,  and  streams 
of  human  blood  have  been  poured  out  before  the  object 
was  attained.  But  for  this  very  reason  every  son  of  the 
Reformation  tramples  upon  the  honor  of  the  fathers,  who 
does  not  assiduously  and  without  retrenching,  defend 
this  palladium  of  our  liberties.  In  order  that  it  may  be 
able  to  rule  men,  the  government  must  respect  this  deepest 
ethical  power  of  our  human  existence.  A  nation,  consisting 
of  citizens  whose  consciences  are  bruised,  is  itself  broken 
in  its  national  strength. 

And  even  if  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  our  fathers,  in 
theory,  had  not  the  courage  of  the  conclusions  which  follow 


CALVINISM  AND   POLITICS.  38 


from  this  liberty  of  conscience,  for  the  liberty  of  speech 
and  the  liberty  of  worship;  even  if  I  am  well  aware  that 
the}'  made  a  desperate  effort  to  hinder  the  spread  of 
literature  which  they  disliked,  by  censure  and  refusal  of 
publication ;—  all  this  does  not  set  aside  the  fact  that  the 
free  expression  of  thought,  by  the  spoken  and  printed 
word,  has  first  achieved  its  victory  in  the  Calvinistic  Nether- 
lands. Whosoever  was  elsewhere  straightened  could  first 
enjoy  the  liberty  of  ideas  and  the  liberty  of  the  press,  on 
Calvinistic  ground.  And  thus  the  logical  development  of 
what  was  enshrined  in  the  liberty  of  conscience,  as  well 
as  that  liberty  itself,  first  blessed  the  world  from  the  side 
of  Calvinism. 

For  it  is  true  that,  in  Roman  lands,  spiritual  and  political 
despotism  have  been  finally  vanquished  by  the  French 
Revolution,  and  that  in  so  far  we  have  gratefully  to 
acknowledge  that  this  revolution  also  began  by  promoting 
the  cause  of  liberty.  But  whosoever  learns  from  history 
that  the  guillotine,  all  over  France,  for  years  and  years 
could  not  rest  from  the  execution  of  those  who  were  of  a 
different  mind;  whosoever  remembers  how  cruelly  and 
wantonly  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  were  murdered, 
because  they  refused  to  violate  their  conscience  by  an 
unholy  oath  ;  or  whosoever,  like  myself,  by  a  sad  experience, 
knows  the  spiritual  tyranny,  which  liberalism  and  con- 
servatism on  the  European  Continent  has  applied,  and  is 
still  applying,  to  those  who  have  chosen  different  paths,— is 
forced  to  appreciate  that  liberty  in  Calvinism  and  liberty 
in  the  French  Revolution  are  two  different  things. 

In  the  French  revolution  a  liberty  of  conscience,  which 
emancipates  men  from  God;  in  Calvinism  a  liberty  of  con- 
science, which  enables  every  man  to  serve  God,  according  to 
dictates  of  his  own  heart. 


fajr.JL.*s 


FOURTH  LECTURE. 


CALVINISM  AND  SCIENCE. 

In  my  fourth  lecture  allow  me  to  draw  your  attention 
to  the  nexus  between  Calvinism  and  Science.  Not,  of  course 
in  order  to  exhaust  in  one  lecture  such  a  weighty  subject. 
Four  points  of  it  only  I  submit  to  your  thoughtful  con- 
sideration; first,  that  Calvinism  fostered  and  could  not  but 
foster  love  for  science;  secondly,  that  it  restored  to  science 
its  domain:  thirdly,  that  it  delivered  science  from  unnatural 
bonds;  and  fourthly  in  what  manner  it  sought  and  found 
a  solution  for  the  unavoidable  scientific  conflict. 

First  of  all  then:  There  is  found  hidden  in  Calvinism 
an  impulse,  an  inclination,  an  incentive,  to  scientific  in- 
vestigation. It  is  a  fact,  that  science  has  been  fostered  by 
it,  and  its  principle  demands  the  scientific  spirit.  One 
glorious  page  from  the  history  of  Calvinism  may  suffice  to 
prove  the  fact,  before  we  enter  more  fully  upon  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  incentive  to  scientific  investigation  found  in 
Calvinism  as  such.  The  page  from  the  history  of  Calvinism, 
or  let  us  rather  say  of  mankind,  matchless  in  its  beauty, 
to  which  I  refer,  is  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Leyden, 
more  than  three  hundred  years  ago,  which  event  is  yet 
celebrated  annually  on  the  third  of  October :  the  city 
was    invested    at  that  time,  and  threatened  with  massacre 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE. 


and  plundered  by  the  Spanish  veteran  troops  under  Don  Louis 
de  Requezens.  In  1573  the  future  of  Europe  hinged  upon 
the  question,  —  whether  Spain  or  the  Netherlands  would  be 
victorious,  and  the  doom  of  the  latter  country  certainly 
would  have  been  sealed,  if,  after  Harlem,  Leyden  also  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniard.  The  siege  of  Leyden 
was  in  fact  a  struggle  between  Alva  and  Prince  William 
about  the  future  course  of  the  history  of  the  world;  and 
the  result  of  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Leyden  was,  that 
in  the  end  Alva  had  to  withdraw,  and  that  William  the 
Silent  was  enabled  to  unfurl  the  banner  of  libert}r  over 
Europe.  Leyden  entered  the  lists  against  the  best  troops  of 
what  was  looked  upon  at  that  time  as  the  finest  ariny  of  the 
world,  with  hardly  any  regular  soldiers  within  its  bulwarks  ; 
defended  almost  exclusively  by  its  own  citizens.  As  early 
as  October  1573  the  siege  of  the  hard  pressed  fortress  was 
begun,  but  in  March  '74  it  was  temporarily  broken  up,  in 
order  that  the  Spaniards  might  meet  in  deadly  conflict  the 
troops  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  on  the  Mookerheide,  which 
battle  resulted  in  a  complete  rout  of  the  Dutch  and  the 
death  of  two  brothers  of  the  Prince.  Soon  however,  the 
Spaniards,  elate  with  their  victory,  returned  to  the  walls  of 
Le}*den,  pressing,  for  nearly  six  months,  in  their  iron  grasp  the 
almost  defenceless  city,  scantily  supplied  as  it  was  with  regulars 
and  victuals.  Three  months  after  the  commencement  of  thesiege, 
the  supply  of  bread  became  exhausted.  A  fearful  famine  began 
to  rage.  The  apparently  doomed  citizens  managed  to  live  on 
dogs  and  rats ;  and  this  black  famine  was  soon  followed  by 
the  black  death  or  the  plague,  which  carried  off  a  third 
part  of  the  inhabitants.  The  Spaniard  offered  peace  and 
pardon  to  the  dying  people,  but  Leyden,  remembering  the 
bad  faith  of  the  enemy  in  the  treatment  of  Narden  and 
Harlem,  answered  boldly  and  with  pride:  If  it  is  neces- 
sary, we  are  ready  to  consume  our  left  arm,  and  to  defend 
with  our  right  arm  our  wives,  our  liberty  and  our  religion 
against   thee,    o   tyrant.     And  even  if  it  were  our  destiny, 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  3 

to  perish,  we  will  rather  with  oar  own  hand  set  fire 
to  the  city  and  perish  in  the  flames  with  our  wives  and 
children,  than  be  crushed  by  thy  treachery  and  violence. 
Thus  they  persevered.  They  patiently  waited  for  the  coming 
of  the  Prince  of  Orauge,  to  raise  the  siege,  and  the  prince 
waited  for  God.  The  dikes  of  the  province  of  Holland  had 
been  cut  through ;  the  country  surrounding  Leyden  was 
flooded,  and  a  fleet  lay  ready  to  hasten  to  Leyden's  aid,  but 
the  wind  drove  the  water  back,  preventing  the  fleet  from 
passing  the  shallow  pools.  God  tried  his  people  sorely.  At 
last  however,  on  the  first  of  October,  the  wind  turned 
towards  the  West,  and,  forcing  the  waters  upward,  enabled 
the  fleet  to  reach  the  City.  Then  the  Spaniards  tied  in 
haste  to  escape  the  rising  tide.  On  the  3rd  of  October  the 
fleet  entered  the  port  of  Leyden,  and,  the  siege  being  raised, 
Holland  was  saved.  The  population,  all  but  starved  to  death, 
could  scarcely  drag  themselves  along,  yet  all  to  a  man, 
limped  as  well  as  they  could  to  the  house  of  prayer.  All 
fell  on  their  knees  and  gave  thanks  to  God.  But  when 
they  tried  to  utter  their  gratitude  in  psalms  of  praise,  they 
were  almost  voiceless,  for  there  was  no  strength  left  in 
them,  and  the  tones  of  their  song  died  awa^y  in  grateful 
sobbing  and  weeping. 

Behold  what  I  called  a  glorious  page  in  the  history  of 
liberty,  written  in  blood,  and  if  you  now  ask  me,  what  has 
this  to  do  with  science,  see  here  the  answer:  In  recogni- 
tion of  such  patriotic  courage,  the  States  of  Holland  did  not 
present  Leyden  with  a  handful  of  knightly  orders,  or  gold, 
or  honor,  but  with  a  School  of  the  Sciences, — the  XJniversit}' 
of  Leyden,  renowned  through  the  whole  world.  The  German 
is  surpassed  by  none  in  pride  of  his  scientific  glory,  and 
yet  no  less  a  man  than  Niebuhr,  has  testified,  "that 
the  Senate  chamber  of  Le3rden's  University  is  the  most 
memorable  hall  of  science."  The  ablest  scholars  were  in- 
duced to  fill  the  amply  endowed  chairs.  Scaliger  was 
conveyed   from   France  in   a  man-of-war.     Salmasius  came 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE. 


to  Leyden  under  convoy  of  a  whole  squadron.  Why  should 
I  sive  vou  the  long  list  of  names  of  the  princes  of  science, 
of  the  giants  in  learning,  who  have  filled  Leyden  with  the 
lustre  of  their  renown,  or  tell  you  how  this  love  for 
science,  going  forth  from  Leyden,  permeated  the  whole 
nation?  You  know  the  Lipsius,  the  Hemsterhuis,  the 
Boerhaves.  Yrou  know  that  in  Holland  were  invented  the 
telescope,  the  microscope  and  the  thermometer;  and  thus 
empirical  science,  worthy  of  its  name,  was  made  possible. 
It  is  an  undeniable  fact,  that  the  Calvinists  in  the  Nether- 
lands had  love  for  science  and  fostered  it.  But  the  most 
evident,  the  most  convincing  proof  is  doubtless  found  in 
the  establishment  of  Leydens  University.  To  receive  as  the 
highest  reward  a  University  of  the  Sciences  in  a  moment,  when, 
in  a  fearful  struggle,  the  course  of  the  history  of  the  world 
was  turned  by  such  heroism  is  only  conceivable  among  a  people, 
in  whose  very  life-principle  love  for  science  is  involved. 

And  now  I  approach  the  principle  itself.  For  it  is  not 
enough  to  be  acquainted  with  the  fact,  I  must  also  show 
you  why  it  is  that  Calvinism  cannot  but  foster  love  for 
science.  And  do  not  think  it  strange,  when  I  point  to  the 
Calvinistic  dogma  of  predestination  as  the  strongest  motive 
in  those  clays  for  the  cultivation  of  science  in  a  higher 
sense.  But  in  order  to  prevent  a  possible  misunderstanding 
let  me  first  explain  what  the  term  "science"  means. 

I  speak  of  human  science  as  a  whole,  not  of  what  is 
called  among  you  "sciences",  or  as  the  French  express  it 
"sciences  exactes".  Especially  do  I  deny,  that  mere  empi- 
ricism in  itself  ever  is  perfect  science.  Even  the  minutest 
microscopic,  the  farthest  reaching  telescopic  investigation 
is  nothing  hut  perception  with  strengthened  eyes;  this  is  trans- 
formed into  science,  when  you  discover  in  the  specific  phenom- 
ena, perceived  by  empiricism,  the  universal  law,  and  thereby 
reach  the  thought,  which  governs  the  whole  constellation  of 
phenomena.  In  this  wise  the  special  sciences  originate; 
but  even  in  them  the  human  mind  cannot  acquiesce.     The 


CALVINISM  AND   SCIENCE. 


subject-matter    of  the    several    sciences   must   be    grouped 
under     one    head    and    brought   under   the    sway    of  one 
principle    by    means    of   theory   or   hypothesis,  and  finally 
philosophy,  as  the  queen  of  sciences,  conies  forth  from  her 
tent  to  weave  all  the  different  results  into  one  organic  whole. 
It   is    true,  I   know,   that  Dubois  Raymond's  winged  word 
lgnorabimm    has    been   used    by    many,    to    make    it  seem 
impossible  that  our  thirst  for  science  in  the  highest  sense 
will    ever    be    quenched,    and    that    Agnosticism,    drawing 
a   curtain   across   the   background  and  over  the  abysses  of 
life,    is    satisfied    with   a    study    of  the  phenomena  of  the 
several  sciences;  but  some  time  ago  already,  the  human  mind 
began  to  revenge  itself  on  this  spiritual  vandalism.  The  question 
about  the  origin,  interconnection  and  destiny  of  everything 
that    exists,    cannot    be    suppressed;    and    the    veni,    rid/, 
vici,  wherewith  the  theory  of  evolution  with  full  speed,  occu- 
pied the  ground  in  all  the  circles,  inimical  to  the  Word  of 
God,  and  especially  among  our  naturalists,  is  a  convincing 
proof,  how  much  we  need  unity  of  view. 

How,  now,  can  we  prove  that  love  for  science  in  that  higher 
sense,  which  aims  at  unity  in  our  cognizance  of  the  entire 
cosmos,  is  effectually  secured  by  means  of  our  Calvinistic 
belief  in  God's  fore-ordination  ?  If  you  want  to  under- 
stand this  you  have  to  go  back  from  predestination  to 
God's  decree.  This  is  not  a  matter  of  choice;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  must  be  done.  Belief  in  predestination  is  nothing 
but  the  penetration  of  God's  decree  into  our  own  personal 
life;  or,  if  you  prefer  it,  the  personal  heroism  to 
apply  the  sovereignty  of  God's  decreeing  will  to  our  own 
existence.  It  means  that  we  are  not  satisfied  with  a  mere  pro- 
fession of  words,  but  that  we  are  willing  to  stand  by  our 
confession,  in  regard  both  to  this  life  and  the  life  to 
come.  It  is  a  proof  of  honesty,  unmovable  firmness  and 
solidity  in  our  expressions  concerning  the  unity  of  God's 
Will,  and  the  certainty  of  his  operations.  It  is  a  deed  of 
high  courage,  because  it  brings  you  under  the  suspicion  of 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  6 

high-niindedness.  But  if  you  now  proceed  to  the  decree 
of  God,  what  else  does  this  dogma  mean,  than  the  certainty 
that  the  existence  and  course  of  all  things,  i.  e.  of  the 
entire  cosmos,  instead  of  being  a  plaything  of  caprice  and 
chance,  obeys  law  and  order,  and  that  there  exists  a  firm 
will  which  carries  out  its  designs  both  in  nature  and  in 
history.  Now  do  you  not  agree  with  me,  that  this  forces 
upon  our  mind  the  indissoluble  conception  of  one  all- 
comprehensive  unity;  and  the  acceptance  of  one  principle 
by  which  everything  is  governed.  It  forces  upon  us  the 
recognition  of  something  that  is  general,  hidden  and  yet 
expressed  in  that  which  is  special.  Yea,  it  forces  upon  us  the 
confession,  that  there  must  be  stability  and  regularity  ruling 
over  everything.  Thus  you  recognize  that  the  cosmos,  instead 
of  being  a  heap  of  stones,  loosely  thrown  togethei*,  on  the  con- 
trary presents  to  our  mind  a  monumental  building  erected  in 
a  severely  consistent  style.  Do  you  abandon  this  point  of  view, 
then  it  is  uncertain  at  any  moment,  what  is  to  happen,  which 
course  things  may  take,  what  every  morning  and  evening 
may  have  in  store  for  you,  your  family,  your  country, 
the  world  at  large.  Man's  capricious  will  is  then  the  principal 
concern.  Every  man  may  then  choose  and  act  every 
moment  in  a  certain  way,  but  it  is  also  possible  that  he 
may  do  just  the  reverse.  If  this  were  so,  you  could  count 
upon  nothing.  There  is  no  interconnection,  no  develop- 
ment, no  continuity ;  a  chronicle,  but  no  history.  And  now 
tell  me,  what  becomes  of  science  under  such  conditions  1 
You  may  yet  speak  of  the  study  of  nature,  but  the  study 
of  human  life  has  been  made  ambiguous  and  uncertain. 
Nothing  but  bare  facts  may  then  be  historically  ascertained, 
interconnection  and  plan  have  no  longer  a  place  in  history. 
History  dies  away. 

I  do  not  for  a  moment  propose  to  enter  just  now  into 
a  discussion  about  man's  free  will.  We  have  no  time  for 
it.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  the  more  thorough  development 
of   science    in   our  age  has  almost  unanimously  decided  in 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE. 


favor   of  Calvinism  with  regard  to  the  antithesis  between 
the     unity     and    stability    of    God's    decree,    which    Cal- 
vinism    professes,    and    the    superficiality    and    looseness, 
which  the  Arminians  preferred.     The  systems  of  the  great 
philosophers  are,  almost  to  one,  in  favor  of  unity  and  stability. 
Buckle's  History  of  the  civilization  of  England  has  succeeded 
in    proving    the    firm    order    of  things  in  human  life  with 
astonishing,  almost  mathematical  demonstrative  force.  Lom- 
broso,   and  following  him  the  entire  school  of  determinists 
among  the  criminalists,  place  themselves  on  record  in  this 
respect   as    moving    on    Calviuistic    lines.     And    the  latest 
hypothesis,  that  the  laws  of  heredity  and  variation,  which 
control   the    whole    organization   of   nature,   admit    of   no 
exception    in    the    domain  of  human  life,  has  already  been 
accepted    as    "the    common    creed"    by    all    evolutionists. 
Though   I    abstain   at  present  from  any  criticism  either  of 
these    philosophical    systems   or  of  these  naturalistic  hypo- 
theses, so  much  at  least  is  very  clearly  demonstrated  by  them, 
that   the  entire  development  of  science  in  our  age  presup- 
poses   a    cosmos,  which  does  not  fall  a  prey  to  the  freaks 
of  chance,  but  exists  and  develops  from  one  principle,  accord- 
ing  to   a   firm  order,  aiming  at  one  fixed  plan.     This  is  a 
claim,  which  is,  as  it  clearly  appears,  diametrically  opposed 
to  Arminianism,  and  in  complete  harmony  with  Calvinistic 
belief,  that  there  is  one  will  in  God,  the  cause  of  all  exist- 
ing things,  subjecting  them  to  his  ordinances  and  directing 
them  towards  a  preestablished  plan.   Calvinists  have  never 
thought  that  the  idea  of  the  cosmos  lay  in  God's  foreordination 
as    an    aggregate    of  loosely   conjoined    decrees,    but  they 
have  always  maintained,  that  the  whole  formed  one  organic 
programme    of  the   entire  creation  and  the  entire  history. 
We  have  always  felt  the  need  to  speak  of  natural  laws,  with 
this  proviso  however,  that  they  were  not  considered  as  laws, 
wmich   nature   imposes   upon  us,  but  as  laws  imposed  upon 
nature  by  God.   And  as  a  Calvinist  looks  upon  God's  decree 
as   the    foundation    and  origin  of  the  natural  laws,  in  the 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE. 


same  maimer  also  he  finds  in  it  the  firm  foundation  and 
the  origin  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  laws ;  both  these,  the 
natural  as  well  as  the  moral  laws,  forming  together  one 
high  order,  which  exists  according  to  God's  command,  and 
wherein  God's  counsel  will  be  accomplished  in  the  consum- 
mation of  His  eternal,  all-embracing  plan. 

Faith  in  such  an  unity,  stability  and  order  of  things, 
personally,  as  predestination,  cosmically,  as  the  counsel  of 
God's  decree,  could  not  but  awaken  as  with  a  loud  voice,  and 
vigorously  foster  love  for  science.  Without  a  deep  convic- 
tion of  this  unity,  this  stability  and  this  order,  science  is 
unable  to  go  beyond  mere  conjectures,  and  only  when  there 
is  faith  in  the  organic  dependence  of  the  Universe,  will 
there  be  also  a  possibility  for  science  to  ascend  from  the 
empirical  investigation  of  the  special  phenomena  to  the 
general,  and  from  the  general  to  the  law  which  rules 
over  it,  and  from  that  law  to  the  principle,  which  is 
dominant  over  all.  The  data,  which  are  absolutely  indis- 
pensable for  all  higher  science,  are  at  hand  only  under 
this  supposition.  Remember  the  fact,  that  in  those 
days,  when  Calvinism  cleared  for  itself  a  path  in  life, 
tottering  semi-pelagianism  had  blunted  this  conviction  of 
unity,  stability  and  order,  to  such  an  extent,  that  even 
Thomas  Aquinas  lost  a  great  deal  of  his  influence,  while 
Scotists,  mystics  and  epicureans  vied  with  one  another  in 
their  endeavors  to  deprive  the  human  mind  of  its  steady 
course.  And  who  is  there  who  does  not  peixeive,  what 
entirely  new  impulse  to  undertake  scientific  investigations 
had  to  grow  out  of  the  newly  born  Calvinism,  which  with 
one  powerful  grasp  brought  order  out  of  chaos,  putting 
under  discipline  so  dangerous  a  spiritual  licentiousness  making 
an  end  to  that  halting  between  two  or  more  opinions,  and 
showing  us  instead  of  rising  and  falling  mists,  the  picture 
of  a  powerfully  rushing  mountain  stream,  taking  its  course 
through  a  well  regulated  bed  towards  an  ocean  which  waits 
to    receive    it.     Calvinism    has    gone    through  many  fierce 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  9 

struggles  on  account  of  its  clinging  to  the  counsel  of  God's 
decree.     Again   and  again  it  seemed  to  be  near  the  brink 
of  destruction.     Calvinism   has  been  reviled  and  slandered 
on    account    of   it,    and    when   it    refused  to  exclude  even 
our  sinful  actions  from  God's  plan,  because  without  it  the 
programme  of  the  order  of  the  world  would  again  be  rent 
to    pieces,    our    opponents    did    not    shrink    from    accusing 
us    of  making    God    the   author    of   sin.     They    knew  not 
Avhat  the}'  did.    Through  evil  report  and  good  report  Cal- 
vinism has  firmly  maintained  its  place.  It  has  not  allowed 
itself  to  be  deprived  by  scoff  and  scorn  of  the  firm  convic- 
tion, that  our  entire  life  must  be  under  the  sway  of  unity, 
solidity  and  order,  established  by  God  himself.  This  accounts 
for  its  need  of  unity  of  insight,  firmness  of  knowledge,  order 
in   its  world    view,    fostered    among    us,  even  in  the  wide 
circles  of  the   common    people,   and    this  manifest  need    is 
the    reason,    that  a    thirst    for  knowledge  was   quickened, 
which    in    those    days    was    nowhere    satisfied    in    a    more 
abundant     measure    than    in    Calvinistic    countries.     This 
explains,  why  it  is,  that  in  the  writings  of  those  days  you 
meet  with  such  a  determination,  such  an  energy  of  thought, 
such  a  comprehensive  view  of  life.   I  even  venture  to  say, 
that  in  the  memoirs  of  noble  women  of  that  century,  and 
in  the  correspondence  of  the  uulettered,  an  unity  of  wto  rid  - 
and  lifeview  is  manifest,  which  impressed  a  scientific  stamp 
on  their  wdiole  existence.     Intimately  connected  with  this 
is    also    the    fact    that    they    never    favored  the    so-called 
primacy  of  the  will.  They  demanded,  in  their  practical  life, 
the  bridle  of  a  clear  consciousness,  and  in  this  consciousness 
the     leadership     could    not     be     entrusted     to    humor    or 
whim,    to    fancy    or    chance,    but    only    to  the  majesty  of 
the   highest  principle,   wherein  they  found  the  explanation 
of  their    existence    and  to    which    their    whole    life    was 
consecrated. 


CALVINISM   AND   SCIENCE.  10 

I  now  leave  my  first  point,  that  Calvinism  fostered  love 
for  science,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  second,  that  Calvinism 
restored  to  science  its  domain.  I  mean  to  say  that  cosmical 
science  originated  in  the  Graeco-Roman  world ;  that  in  the 
middle  ages  the  cosmos  vanished  behind  the  horizon  to  draw 
the  attention  of  all  to  the  distant  sights  of  future  life,  and 
that  it  was  Calvinism  which,  without  losing  sight  of  the 
spiritual,  led  to  a  rehabilitation  of  the  cosmic  sciences.  If 
we  were  forced  to  choose  between  the  beautiful  cosmic 
taste  of  Greece  with  its  blindness  for  things  eternal, 
and  the  middle  ages  with  their  blindness  for  cosmical  things, 
but  with  their  mystic  love  for  Christ,  then  certainly  every 
child  of  God  on  his  death-bed  would  tender  the  palm  to 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux  and  Thomas  Aquinas  rather  than  to 
Heraclitus  and  Aristotle.  The  pilgrim,  who  wanders  through 
the  world  without  concerning  himself  about  its  preservation 
and  destiny,  presents  to  us  a  more  ideal  figure  than  the 
Greek  worldling,  who  sought  religion  in  the  worship  of 
Venus,  or  Bacchus,  and  who  flattered  himself  in  hero- 
worship,  debased  his  honour  as  a  man  in  the  veneration  of 
prostitutes,  and  at  last  sank  lower  than  the  brutes  in 
pederasty.  Let  it  be  quite  understood  therefore  that  1  do 
not  in  an}r  way  over-rate  the  classical  world,  to  the  detrac- 
tion of  the  heavenly  lustre  which  sparkled  through  all  the 
mists  of  the  middle  ages.  But  notwithstanding  all  this 
I  assert  and  maintain,  that  the  one  Aristotle  knew  more 
of  the  cosmos  than  all  the  churchfathers,  taken  together ; 
that  under  the  dominion  of  Islam,  better  cosmic  science 
flourished  than  in  the  cathedral-  and  monastic-schools  of 
Europe ;  that  the  recovery  of  the  writings  of  Aristotle  was 
the  first  incentive  to  renewed,  though  rather  deficient 
cosmic  study,  and  that  Calvinism  alone,  by  means  of  its 
dominating  principle,  which  constantly  urges  us  to  go  back 
from  the  Cross  to  creation,  and  no  less  by  means  of  its 
doctrine  of  common  grace,  threw  open  again  to  science  the 
vast    field   of  the  cosmos,  now    illumined    by   the   Sun  of 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  11 

righteousness,  of  whom  the  Scriptures  testify,  that  in  him 
are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  Let 
us  pause  then  to  consider  first  that  general  principle  of 
Calvinism  and  afterwards  the  dogma  of  common  grace. 

All  agree  that  the  Christian  religion  is  substantially 
soteriological.  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?*'  remains 
throughout  all  the  ages  the  question  of  the  anxious  inquirer, 
to  which  above  all  else  an  answer  must  be  given.  This 
question  is  unintelligble  for  those  who  refuse  to  view  time 
in  the  light  of  eternity,  and  who  are  accustomed  to  think 
of  this  earth  without  organic  and  moral  connection  with 
the  life  to  come.  But  of  course,  wherever  two  elements 
appear,  as  in  this  case  the  sinner  and  the  saint,  the  tem- 
poral and  the  eternal,  the  terrestrial  and  the  heavenly 
life,  there  is  always  danger  of  losing  sight  of  their  inter- 
connection and  of  falsifying  both  by  error  or  one- 
sidedness.  Christendom,  it  must  be  confessed,  did  not 
escape  this  error.  A  dualistic  conception  of  regeneration 
was  the  cause  of  the  rupture  between  the  life  of  nature 
and  the  life  of  grace.  It  has,  on  account  of  its  too  intense 
contemplation  of  heavenly  things,  neglected  to  give  its 
attention  to  the  world  of  God's  creation.  It  has,  on  account 
of  its  exclusive  love  of  things  eternal,  been  backward  in 
the  fulfilment  of  its  temporal  duties.  It  has  neglected 
the  care  of  the  body,  because  it  cared  too  exclusively  for 
the  soul.  And  this  one-sided,  inharmonious  conception  in 
the  course  of  time  has  led  more  than  one  sect  to  a  mystic 
worshipping  of  Christ  alone,  to  the  exclusion  of  God  the 
Father  Almighty,  maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  Christ  was 
conceived  exclusively  as  the  Savior,  and  his  cosmological 
significance  was  lost  out  of  sight. 

This  dualism,  however,  is  by  no  means  countenanced  by 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  When  John  is  describing  the  Saviour, 
he  first  tells  us  that  Christ  is  the  eternal  Word  by  whom 
all  things  are  made,  and  who  is  the  life  of  men.  Paul  also 
testifies  that  all  things  were  created  by  Christ  and  consist 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  12 

by  him;"  and  further,  that  the  object  of  the  work  of 
redemption  is  not  limited  to  the  salvation  of  individual 
sinners,  but  extends  itself  to  the  redemption  of  the  world, 
and  to  the  organic  reunion  of  all  things  in  heaven  and 
on  earth  under  Christ  as  their  original  head.  Christ 
himself  does  not  speak  only  of  the  regeneration  of  the 
heart,  but  also  of  creation  as  a  whole.  The  whole  creation 
groaneth  waiting  for  the  bursting  forth  of  the  glory  of 
the  children  of  God.  And  when  John  on  Patmos  listened 
to  the  hymns  of  the  Cherubim  and  the  Redeemed,  ah 
honor,  praise  and  thanks  are  given  to  Cod,  "  Who  has 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth!'  The  Apocalypse  returns 
to  the  startingpoint  of  Gen.  I,  1.:  "In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  In  keeping  with 
this,  the  final  outcome  of  the  future,  foreshadowed  in 
the  H.  Scriptures,  is  not  the  merely  spiritual  existence 
of  saved  souls,  but  the  restoration  of  the  entire  cosmos, 
when  God  will  lie  all  in  all  under  the  renewed  heaven 
on  the  renewed  earth.  Now  this  wide,  comprehensive, 
cosmical  meaning  of  the  gospel  has  been  apprehended  by 
Calvin,  apprehended  not  as  a  result  of  a  dialectic  process, 
but  of  the  deep  impression  of  God's  majesty,  which  had 
moulded  his  personal  life. 

Certainly  our  salvation  is  of  substantial  weight,  but  it 
cannot  be  compared  with  the  much  greater  weight  of  the 
glory  of  our  God,  Who  has  revealed  His  majesty  in  His 
wondrous  creation.  This  creation  is  his  handiwork,  and 
being  marred  by  sin,  the  way  was  opened,  it  is  true 
for  a  still  more  glorious  revelation  in  its  restoration,  yet 
restoration  is  and  ever  will  be  the  salvation  of  that  wdiich 
was  first  created,  the  theodicy  of  the  original  handiwork 
of  our  God.  The  mediatorship  of  Christ  is  and  ever  will 
be  the  burden  of  the  grand  hymn  of  the  tongues  of  men 
and  the  voices  of  angels,  but  even  this  mediatorship  has 
for  its  final  end  the  glory  of  the  Father;  and  however 
grand    the    splendor    of   Christ's  kingdom  may  be,  He  will 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  13 

at  last  surrender  it  to  God  and  the  Father.  He  is  still 
our  advocate  with  the  Father,  but  the  hour  is  coining, 
when  his  prayer  for  us  will  cease,  because  we  shall 
know,  in  that  clay,  that  the  Father  loves  us.  Thereby  of 
course  Calvinism  puts  an  end  once  and  for  all  to  contempt 
for  the  world,  neglect  of  temporal  and  under-valuation  of 
cosmical  things.  Cosmical  life  has  regained  its  worth  not 
at  the  expense  of  things  eternal,  but  by  virtue  of  its 
capacity  as  God's  handiwork  and  as  a  revelation  of  God's 
attributes. 

Two  facts  may  suffice  to  impress  you  with  the  truth  of 
this.  During  the  terrible  plague,  which  once  devastated 
Milan,  Cardinal  Borromeo's  heroic  love  shone  brightly  in 
the  courage  he  manifested  in  his  ministrations  to  the  dying; 
but  during  the  plague,  which  in  the  1 6th  century  tormented 
Geneva,  Calvin  acted  better  and  more  wisety,  for  he  not 
only  cared  incessantly  for  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  sick, 
but  at  the  same  time  introduced  hitherto  unsurpassed 
hygienic  measures,  whereby  the  ravages  of  the  plague  were 
arrested.  The  second  fact,  to  which  I  draw  your  attention, 
is  not  less  remarkable.  The  Calvinistic  preacher  Peter  Plancino 
of  Amsterdam  was  an  eloquent  sermonizer,  a  pastor  unri- 
valled in  his  consecration  to  his  work,  foremost  in  the 
ecclesiastical  struggle  of  his  days,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  was  the  oracle  of  shipowners  and  sea-captains 
on  account  of  his  extensive  geographical  knowledge.  The 
investigation  of  the  lines  of  longitude  and  latitude  of 
the  terrestrial  globe  formed  in  his  estimation  one  whole 
with  the  investigation  of  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
love  of  Christ.  He  saw  himself  placed  before  two  works 
of  God,  the  one  in  creation,  the  other  in  Christ,  and  in 
both  he  adored  that  majesty  of  Almighty  God,  which  trans- 
ported his  soul  into  ecstacy.  In  this  light  it  is  deserving 
of  notice  that  our  Belgic  Confession  speaks  of  two  means, 
whereby  we  know  God,  viz.  the  Scriptures  and  Nature 
And    still   more    remarkable    it    is,   that  Calvin,  instead  of 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  14 

simply  treating  Nature  as  an  accessorial  item,  as  so  many 
Theologians  were  inclined  to  do,  was  accustomed  to  compare 
the  Scriptures  to  a  pair  of  spectacles,  enabling  us  to  decipher 
again  the  divine  Thoughts,  written  by  God's  Hand  in  the 
book  of  Nature,  which  had  become  obliterated  in  conse- 
quence of  sin.  Thus  vanished,  every  dread  possibility,  that  he, 
who  occupied  himself  with  nature,  were  wasting  his  capaci- 
ties in  pursuit  of  vain  and  idle  things.  It  was  perceived, 
on  the  contrary  that,  for  God's  sake,  our  attention  may 
not  be  withdrawn  from  the  life  of  nature  and  creation; 
the  study  of  the  body  regained  its  place  of  honor  beside 
the  study  of  the  soul ;  and  the  social  organization  of  man- 
kind on  earth  was  again  looked  upon  as  being  as  well 
worthy  an  object  of  human  science  as  the  congregation  of 
the  perfect  saints  in  heaven.  This  also  explains  the  close 
relation  existing  between  Calvinism  and  Humanism.  In  as 
far  as  Humanism  endeavored  to  substitute  life  in  this 
world  for  the  eternal,  every  Oalvinist  opposed  the  Humanist. 
But  in  as  much  as  the  Humanist  contented  himself  with 
a  plea  for  a  proper  acknowledgment  of  secular  life,  the 
Calvinist  was  his  ally. 


Now  I  proceed  to  consider  the  dogma  of  common 
grace,  that  natural  outcome  of  the  general  principle,  just 
presented  to  you,  but  in  its  special  application  to  sin, 
understood  as  corruption  of  our  nature.  Sin  places  be- 
fore us  a  riddle,  which  in  itself  is  insoluble.  If  you  view 
sin  as  a  deadly  poison,  as  enmity  against  God,  as  leading 
to  everlasting  condemnation,  and  if  you  represent  a  sin- 
ner as  being  "wholly  incapable  of  doing  any  good,  and 
prone  to  all  evil,''  and  on  this  account  salvable  only,  if 
God  by  regeneration  changes  his  heart,  then  it  seems  as 
if  of  necessity  all  unbelievers  and  unregenerate  persons 
ought  to  be  wicked  and  repulsive  men.  But  this  is  far 
from  being  our  experience  in  actual  life.     On  the  contrary 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  15 

the  unbelieving  world  excels  in  many  things.  Precious 
treasures  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  old  heathen 
civilization.  In  Plato  you  find  pages  which  you  devour. 
Cicero  fascinates  you  and  bears  you  along  by  his  noble 
tone  and  stirs  up  in  you  holy  sentiments.  And  if  you 
counsel  your  own  surroundings,  that  which  is  reported  to 
3rou,  and  that  which  you  derive  from  the  studies  aud  literary 
productions  of  professed  infidels,  how  much  there  is  which 
attracts  you,  with  which  you  sympathize  and  which  you 
admire.  It  is  not  exclusively  the  spark  of  genius  or  the 
splendor  of  talent,  which  excites  your  pleasure  in  the  words 
and  actions  of  unbelievers,  but  it  is  often  their  beauty  of 
character,  their  zeal,  their  devotion,  their  love,  their 
candor,  their  faithfulness  and  their  sense  of  honesty.  Yea, 
we  may  not  pass  it  over  in  silence,  not  unfrequently  you 
entertain  the  desire,  that  certain  believers  might  have 
more  of  this  attractiveness,  and  who  among  us  has  not 
himself  been  put  to  the  blush  occasionally  b}T  being  con- 
fronted with  what  is  called  the  virtues  of  the  heathen? 
It  is  thus  a  fact,  that  your  dogma  of  total  depravity  by 
sin  does  not  always  tally  with  your  experieuce  in  life. 
Yet,  if  you  now  run  to  the  opposite  direction  and  proceed 
from  these  experimental  facts,  you  must  not  forget,  that 
your  entire  Christian  confession  falls  to  the  ground,  for 
then  you  look  upon  human  nature  as  good  and  incorrupt; 
the  criminal  villains  have  to  be  pitied  as  ethically-insane; 
regeneration  is  entirely  superfluous  in  order  to  live  honor- 
ably; and  your  imagination  of  higher  grace  seems  to  be 
nothing  else  than  playing  with  a  medicine,  which  often 
proves  entirely  ineffectual.  True,  some  people  save  them- 
selves from  this  awkward  position  by  speaking  of  the 
virtues  of  unbelievers  as  "splendid  vices",  and.  on  the  other 
hand,  by  charging  the  sins  of  believers  to  old  Adam,  yet 
you  feel,  yourselves,  that  this  is  a  subterfuge,  which  lacks 
earnestness.  Rome  tried  to  find  a  better  way  of  escape 
in  the  well  known  doctrine  of  the  pura  naturalia,  Romanists 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  1G 

taught  that  there  existed  two  spheres  of  life,  the  earthly 
or  the  human  as  such,  here  below,  and  the  heavenly,  higher 
than  the  human  as  such;  the  latter  offering  celestial  en- 
joyments in  the  vision  of  God.  Now,  Adam  according  to 
this  theory,  was  well  prepared  by  God  for  both  spheres, 
for  the  common  sphere  of  life  by  the  nature  He  gave  him, 
and  for  the  extra-common  by  granting  him  the  supranatural 
gift  of  original  righteousness.  In  this  wise  Adam  was  doubly 
furnished  for  the  natural  as  well  as  the  supranatural  life. 
By  the  fall  he  lost  the  latter,  not  the  former.  His  natural 
equipment  for  his  earthly  life  remained  unimpaired.  It  is 
true,  human  nature  was  weakened,  but  as  a  whole  it 
remained  in  its  integrity.  Adam's  natural  endowments 
remained  his  possession  after  the  fall.  This  explains  why 
it  is  that  fallen  man  often  excels  in  the  natural  order  of 
life,  which  is  in  fact  superhuman.  You  perceive  that  this  is  a 
system  which  tries  to  reconcile  the  dogma  of  the  fall  with 
the  real  state  of  things  round  about  us,  and  on  this  remark- 
able anthropology  is  founded  the  entire  catholic  religion. 
Two  things  only  are  faulty  in  this  system,  on  the  one  hand 
it  lacks  the  deep  Scriptural  conception  of  sin,  and  on  the 
other  it  errs  by  the  undervaluation  of  earthly  life,  to  which 
it  leads.  This  is  the  false  dualism,  to  which  my  First  Lecture 
pointed,  in  the  carnival.  At  that  time  the  world  is  once 
more  fully  enjoyed,  before  one  enters  upon  the  Caro  vale, 
but  after  the  Carnival,  in  order  to  save  the  ideal,  follows, 
for  a  short  time,  spiritual  elevation  into  the  higher  sphere 
of  life.  For  this  reason  the  clergy,  severing  the  earthly 
tie  in  celibacy,  rank  higher  than  the  laity,  and  again,  the 
monk,  who  turns  away  from  earthly  possessions  also  and 
sacrifices  his  own  will,  stands,  ethically  considered,  on  a 
higher  level  than  the  clergy.  And  finally  the  highest  per- 
fection is  reached  by  the  stylite,  who,  mounting  his  pillar, 
severs  himself  from  everything  earthly,  or  by  the  yet 
more  silent  penitent  who  causes  himself  to  be  immured  in 
his    subterranean    cave.     Horizontally,    if  I   may    use    this 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  17 

expression,  the  same  thought  finds  embodiment  in  the 
separation  between  sacred  and  secular  ground.  Everything 
uncountenanced  and  uncared  for  by  the  church,  is  looked 
upon  as  being  of  a  lower  character,  and  exorcism  in  baptism 
tells  us,  that  these  lower  things  are  really  meant  to  be 
unholy.  Now,  it  is  evident  that  such  a  standpoint  did  not 
invite  Christians  to  make  a  study  of  earthly  things.  Nothing 
but  a  study  appartaining  to  the  sphere  of  heavenly  things 
and  contemplation  could  attract  those  who  had  mounted 
guard  over  the  sanctuary  of  the  ideal. 

This  conception  of  the  moral  condition  of  fallen  man 
has  been  opposed  in  principle  by  Calvinism,  on  the  one 
hand  by  taking  our  conception  of  sin  in  the  most  absolute 
sense,  and  on  the  other  by  explaining  that  which  is  good 
in  fallen  man  by  the  dogma  of  common  grace.  Sin, 
according  to  Calvinism,  which  is  in  full  accord  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  sin  unbridled  and  unfettered,  left  to  itself,  would 
forthwith  have  led  to  a  total  degeneracy  of  human  life,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  what  was  seen  in  the  days  before  the 
flood.  But  Cod  arrested  sin  in  its  course  in  order  to 
prevent  the  complete  annihilation  of  his  divine  handiwork, 
which  natural^  would  have  followed.  He  has  interfered  in  the 
life  of  the  individual,  in  the  life  of  mankind  as  a  whole,  and  in 
the  life  of  nature  itself  by  His  common  grace.  This  grace  how- 
ever does  not  kill  the  core  of  sin,  nor  does  it  save  unto  life  eter- 
nal, but  it  arrests  the  complete  effectuation  of  sin,  just  as 
human  insight  arrests  the  fury  of  wild  beasts.  Man  can  prevent 
the  beast  from  doing  damage  by  putting  it  behind  bars; 
he  can  subject  it  to  his  will  by  taming  it;  he  can  make 
it  attractive  by  domesticating  it,  e.g.,  by  transforming  the 
originally  wild  dog  and  cat  into  domestic  animals.  In  a 
similar  manner  Cod  by  His  common  grace  restrains  the  opera- 
tion of  sin  in  man,  partly  by  breaking  its  power,  partly  by 
taminghis  evil  spirit,  and  partly  by  domesticating  his  nation  or 
his  family.  Common  grace  has  thus  led  to  the  result  that  an 
uugenerated  sinner  may  captivate  and  attract  us  by  much  that 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  IS 

is  lovely  and  full  of  energy,  just  as  our  domestic  animals  do, 
but  this  of  course  after  the  manner  of  man.  The  nature 
of  sin  however  remains  as  venomous  as  it  was.  This  is  seen 
in  the  cat,  which,  brought  back  to  the  woods,  returns  to 
its  former  wild  state  after  two  generations,  and  a  similar 
experience  has  been  made  with  regard  to  human  nature, 
just  now,  in  Armenia  and  Cuba.  He  who  reads  an  account 
of  the  massacres  of  St.  Bartholemew  is  easily  inclined  to 
place  these  horrors  to  the  account  of  the  low  state  of  culture 
in  those  days,  but  behold!  our  nineteenth  century  has  sur- 
passed these  horrors  by  the  massacres  in  Armenia.  And  he 
who  has  read  a  description  of  the  cruelties  committed  by 
the  Spaniards  in  the  16th  century  in  the  villages  and  cities 
of  the  Netherlands  against  defenceless  old  men,  women 
and  children,  and  then  heard  the  news  of  what  occurred  now 
in  Cuba,  cannot  help  acknowledging  that,  what  was  a  disgrace 
in  the  16th,  has  been  repeated  in  the  19th  century,  and, 
as  Buckle  justly  maintains,  that  the  form  of  evil  may 
change,  but  that  moral  evil  in  germ  and  principle,  continues 
the  same  through  all  the  ages.  Where  evil  does  not  come 
to  the  surface,  or  does  not  manifest  itself  in  all  its  hideous- 
ness,  we  do  not  owe  it  to  the  fact  that  our  nature  is  not 
so  deeply  corrupt,  but  to  God  alone,  Who  by  His  common 
grace,  hinders  the  bursting  forth  of  the  flames  from  the 
smoking  fire.  And  if  you  ask,  how  it  is  possible,  that  out 
of  restrained  evil  something  may  come  forth  which  attracts, 
pleases  and  interests  }*ou,  take  then  as  an  illustration  the 
ferry-boat.  This  boat  is  put  in  motion  by  the  current, 
which  would  carry  it  swiftly  as  an  arrow  down  stream 
and  ruin  it;  but  by  means  of  the  chain,  to  which  it  is 
fastened,  the  boat  arrives  safely  on  the  opposite  side, 
pressed  forward  by  the  same  power,  which  would 
otherwise  have  demolished  it.  In  this  wise  God  re- 
rains  the  evil  and  it  is  He  who  brings  forth  good  out 
of  evil,  and  meanwhile  we  Calvinists,  never  remiss  in 
accusing  our  sinful  nature,  praise  and  thank  God  for  making 


CALVINISM    AND    SCD3NCE.  19 

it  possible  for  men  to  dwell  together  in  a  well-ordered 
society,  and  for  restraining  us  personally  from  horrible  sins. 
Moreover  we  thank  Him  for  bringing  to  light  all  the 
talents,  hidden  in  our  race,  developing,  b}T  means  of  a  regu- 
lar process,  the  history  of  mankind,  and  securing  by  the  same 
grace,  for  his  church  on  earth,  a  place  for  the  sole  of  her  foot. 

This  confession,  however,  places  the  Christian  in  a  quite 
different  position  over  against  life.  For  then,  in  his  judg- 
ment, not  only  the  church,  but  also  the  world  belongs  to 
God  and  in  both  has  to  be  investigated  the  masterpiece 
of  the  supreme  Architect  and  Artificer. 

He  who  seeks  God,  does  not  for  a  moment  think  of 
limiting  himself  to  theology  and  contemplation,  leaving  the 
other  sciences,  as  of  a  lower  character,  in  the  hands  of 
unbelievers  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  looking  upon  it  as  his 
task,  to  know  God  in  all  his  works,  he  is  conscious  of 
having  been  called  to  fathom  with  all  the  energy  of  his 
intellect,  things  terrestrial  as  well  as  things  heavenly  ;  to  open 
to  view  both  the  order  of  creation,  and  the  common'grace  of 
the  God  lie  adores,  in  nature  and  its  wondrous  character, 
in  the  production  of  human  industry,  in  the  life  of  man- 
kind, in  sociology  and  in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 
Thus  you  perceive,  how  this  dogma  of  common  grace 
suddenly  removed  the  interdict,  under  which  secular 
life  had  lain  bound,  at  the  peril  of  coming  very  near  a 
reaction  in  favor  of  a  one-sided  love  for  these  secular 
studies.  It  was  now  understood,  that  it  was  the  common- 
grace  of  God.  which  had  produced  in  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome  the  treasures  of  philosophic  light,  and  disclosed  to  us 
treasures  of  art  and  justice,  which  kindled  the  love  for 
classical  studies,  in  order  to  renew  to  us  the  profit  of  so 
splendid  an  heritage.  It  was  now  clearly  seen,  that  the 
history  of  mankind  is  not  so  much  an  aphoristic  spectacle 
of  cruel  passions,  as  a  coherent  process  with  the  Cross  as 
its  centre;  a  process  in  which  every  nation  has  its  special 
task,  and  the  knowledge  of  which  may  be  a  fountain  of  bles- 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  20 

sing  for  every  people.  It  was  apprehended,  that  the  science 
of  politics  and  national  economy  deserved  the  careful  atten- 
tion of  scholars  and  men  of  thought.  Yea,  it  was 
intuitively  conceived,  that  there  was  nothing  either  in 
the  life  of  nature  round  about  us,  or  in  human  life  itself, 
which  did  not  present  itself  as  an  object  worthy  of  inves- 
tigation, which  might  throw  new  light  on  the  glories  of 
the  entire  cosmos  in  its  visible  phenomena  and  its  invisible 
operations.  From  on  a  different  standpoint,  progress  in 
thorough  scientific  knowledge  on  these  lines  often  leads 
to  pride  and  estranges  the  heart  from  God,  but  we  owe 
it  to  this  glorious  dogma  of  common  grace  that  in  Calvin- 
istic  circles  the  most  profound  investigator  never  ceases 
to  acknowledge  himself  a  guilty  sinner  before  God,  .and 
to  ascribe  to  God's  mercy  alone,  his  splendid  understanding 
of  the   things  of  the  world. 


Having  proved  that  Calvinism  has  fostered  love  for  science 
and  restored  to  science  its  domain,  allow  me  now  in  the 
third  place  to  show  in  what  manner  it  has  advanced  its 
indispensable  liberty.  Liberty  is  for  genuine  science,  what  the 
air  we  breathe  is  for  us.  This  does  not  mean  that 
science  is  entirely  untrammeled  in  the  use  of  its  liberty 
and  need  obey  no  laws.  On  the  contrar}T,  a  fish  lying  on 
dry  land  is  perfectly  free  viz.,  to  die  and  to  perish  while  a 
fish,  which  shall  be  free  to  live  and  to  thrive  must  be  en- 
tirely surrounded  by  water  and  guided  by  its  fins.  In  the 
same  manner  every  science  has  to  keep  up  the  closest  con- 
nection with  its  subject,  and  strictly  to  obey  the  claims 
of  its  proper  method ;  and  only  when  strictly  bound  by 
this  double  tie,  can  science  move*  freely  on.  For  the 
liberty  of  science  does  not  consist  in  licentiousness  or 
lawlessness,  but  in  its  being  freed  from  all  unnatural  bonds, 
unnatural  because  they  are  not  rooted  in  its  vital  principle. 
Now  in  order  to  fully  understand  the  position  Calvin  took, 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  21 

wo  should  abstain  from  any  wrong  conception  of  university- 
life  in  the  middle  ages.  State  universities  were  not  known  in 
those    days.     The    universities  were   free  corporations,  and 
in  so  far  prototypes  of  most  of  the  universities  in  America, 
a    condition    of  things,  which  we  see  revive  in  Europe  in 
general,    and    happily  also  in  the  Netherlands,  in  the  Free 
University,   whose  servant  I  am.  It  was  the  general  opinion  in 
those  days,  that  science  called  into  existence  a  respublica  littera- 
rum,  "a  commonwealth  of  learned  men",  which  hasto  live  upon 
its  own  spiritual  capital  or  to  die  of  lack  of  talent  and  energy. 
The  encroachment  upon  the  liberty  of  science  in  those  days 
came  not  from  the  State  but  from  an  entirely  different  quar- 
ter.  For  ages  two  dominant  powers,  only,  had  been  known 
in    the    life    of   mankind,    the    Church  and  the  Staie.     The 
dichotomy    of  body  and   soul  was  reflected  in  this  view  of 
life.     The    Church    was    the    soul,    the    State   the   body;  a 
third   power  was  unknown.     Church-life  was  centralized  in 
the   pope,   while   the   political  life  of  the  nations  found  its 
point    of  union    in   the    emperor,  and  it  was  the  endeavor 
to    resolve   this    dualism    into  a  higher  unity,  that  kindled 
the   flames  of  the  fierce  struggle  for  the  supremacy  of  the 
imperial    crown  or   the  papal  tiara,  as  seen  in  the  conflict 
between   the   Hohenstaufen   and   the   Guelphs.     Since  then 
however  science  as  a  third  power,  thanks  to  the  Renaissance) 
had  pushed  itself  in  between  them.     Before  the  thirteenth 
century  elapsed  Science  had  found  in  the  rising  university- 
life   an    embodiment   of  its  own,  and  claimed  an  existence 
independent    of  pope   and   emperor.     The    only    remaining 
question  was,  whether  this  new  power  also  was  to  create  an 
hierarchical    center,    in    order    to  unveil  itself  as  the  third 
great  potentate,  at  the  side  of  the  pope  and  the  emperor. 
Here  three  positions  were  possible :    1  ° .   that  such  a  third 
hierarchy   were   created;    2°.   that  science  continued  to  be 
without  a  central  head;  or  3°.  that  either  pope  or  caesar 
usurped  this  place. 

The   first  position  soon  proved  to  be  impossible.  On  the 


CALVINISM   AND   SCIENCE.  22 

contrary  the  republican  character  of  the  university  demanded 

the  exclusion  of  all  monarchical  aspirations.  But  it  was  just  as 
natural  for  pope  and  caesar,  who  had  partitioned  among 
themselves  the  entire  domain  of  life,  to  watch  with  suspicion 
the  growth  of  a  third,  entirely  independent  power,  and  to 
try  eveiything  in  order  to  subject  the  universities  to  their 
rule.  If  all  the  then  existing  universities  had  taken  a  firm 
stand  such  a  plan  would  never  have  succeeded.  But  as  is 
often  the  case  among  free  corporations,  competition  allured 
the  weaker  to  seek  support  from  without  and  to  turn  for 
help  to  the  head  of  Christendom.  This  compelled  the  strong 
Universities  to  follow,  and  so  the  favor  of  the  pope  was  soon 
universally  coveted,  in  order  to  secure  special  privileges.  Herein 
is  found  the  fundamental  evil.  In  this  wise  Science  surren- 
dered its  independent  character.  It  was  overlooked,  that  the 
intellectual  reception  into,  and  the  reflection  from  our 
consciousness,  of  the  cosmos  wherein  all  science  consists, 
forms  a  sphere  entirely  different  from  Religion.  Now  this 
evil  has  been  checked  by  the  reformation,  and  mastered 
especially  by  Calvinism.  Formally  mastered,  because  in  the 
Church  itself  the  monarchical  hierarchy  was  abandoned, 
and  under  the  monarchical  authority  of  Christ  a  republican 
and  federal  organisation  was  introduced.  A  spiritual  Church 
head,  whose  task  it  would  be,  to  rule  over  universities, 
no  longer  existed  for  a  Calvinist.  For  Lutherans  such  a 
visible  head  was  at  hand  in  the  ruler  of  the  land,  whom  they 
honored  as  "first  Bishop",  summus  episcopus,  but  not  for 
Calvinistic  nations,  which  kept  Church  and  State  separate 
as  two  spheres  of  life.  A  doctor's  diploma,  in  their  system) 
might  not  derive  its  significance  from  public  opinion  neither 
from  papal  consent  nor  from  an  ecclesiastical  ordinance, 
but  solely  from  the  scientific  character  of  the  institution. 
To  this  must  be  added  a  second  point.  Without  regarding 
the  papal  auspices  over  the  University  as  such,  the  Church 
exercised  pressure  upon  Science  by  harassing,  accusing  and 
persecuting    the    innovators    on   account  of  their  expressed 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  23 

opinions  and  published  writings.  The  Church  did  not 
tolerate  freedom  of  the  word.  Truth  alone,  not  error  had 
the  right  to  propagate  itself,  and  truth  was  expected  to 
keep  its  ground,  not  by  conquering  error  in  honest  conflict, 
but  by  arraigning  it  at  the  bar  of  justice.  This  impaired 
the  liberty  of  Science,  because  it  submitted  scientific 
questions,  which  could  not  be  settled  by  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction,  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church.  He  who 
shrunk  from  conflicts,  kept  silence  or  submitted  to  circum- 
stances, and  he,  who,  being  of  more  heroic  mettle,  defied 
opposition,  was  punished  by  having  his  wings  clipped ;  and 
if  he  nevertheless  tried  to  fly  with  clipped  wings,  had  his 
neck  wrung.  He  who  published  a  book,  betiding  too  bold 
opinions,was  considered  a  criminal,  and  came  at  last  in  contact 
with  the  inquisition  and  the  scaffold.  The  right  of  free 
inquiry  was  unknown.  Firmly  believing,  that  everything 
knowable  and  worthy  of  being  known,  was  known  already, 
and  known  firmly  and  well,  the  church  in  those  days  had  uo 
idea  of  the  immense  task,  reserved  for  science,  just  awaking 
from  its  mediaeval  slumber,  nor  of  the  "struggle  for  life," 
which  was  to  be  the  indispensable  rule  in  the  execution 
of  its  task.  The  church  was  unable  to  hail,  in  the  dawn  of 
science,  a  rosy  morn,  heralding  to  the  horizon  the  rising  of 
a  new  sun,  but  saw  in  its  glittering  rather  the  smouldering 
sparks,  which  threatened  to  set  the  world  on  fire,  and 
therefore  considered  herself  justified  and  in  duty  bound  to 
quench  this  fire  and  to  extinguish  these  flames  wherever 
an  outbreak  occurred.  This  position,  placing  ourselves  back 
in  those  times,  we  can  understand,  but  not  without  firmly 
condemning  its  underlying  principle,  for  it  would  have 
smothered  nascent  science  in  its  very  cradle,  if  all  the 
world  had  persisted  in  favoring  it.  Glory,  therefore,  to 
Calvinism  which  first  of  all  abandoned  this  pernicious  position 
with  effectual  results;  theoretically  by  its  discovery  of  the 
sphere  of  common  grace,  and,  before  long,  practically,  by 
offering   a  safe  harbor  to  all  who  were  caught  in  a  storm 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  24 

elsewhere.  It  is  true,  Calvinism,  as  always  happens  in 
such  cases,  did  by  no  means  immediately  understand  the 
full  bearing  of  its  opposition,  for  it  began  Iry  writing  the 
same  duty  to  extirpate  error,  in  its  own  code,  and  yet  the 
invincible  idea,  which  was  bound  to  lead  and  in  the  course 
of  time  has  led  to  freedom  of  the  word,  found  its  absolute 
expression  in  the  principle,  that  the  Church  has  to  retire 
to  the  domain  of  particular  grace,  and  that  exempted  from 
her  rule  lies  the  wide  and  free  domain  of  common  grace. 
The  result  of  this  was  that  the  penalties  of  criminal  law  were 
gradually  reduced  to  a  dead  letter,  and  that,  to  instance  only 
one  case,  Des  Cartes,  who  had  to  leave  Roman  Catholic  France, 
found  among  the  Calvinists  of  the  Netherlands,  of  course 
a  scientific  antagonist  in  Voetius,  but  in  the  republic  a 
safe  retreat. 

To  this  I  must  add  that  in  order  to  cause  science  to 
flourish  a  demand  for  science  had  to  be  created,  and  to  that 
end  the  public  mind  had  to  be  made  free.  As  long  however 
as  the  Church  stretched  out  her  velum  over  the  entire 
drama  of  public  life,  the  state  of  bondage  naturally  contin- 
ued, because  the  only  object  of  life  was  to  merit  heaven 
and  to  enjoy  as  much  of  the  world  as  the  church  consid- 
ered to  be  consistent  with  this  main  end.  From  this  point 
of  view  it  was  unimaginable,  that  any  one  should  be  willing 
to  devote  himself  with  sympathy  and  seeking  love  to  the 
study  of  Nature.  The  seeking  love  of  all  was  directed 
towards  eternal  life,  and  it  could  not  be  realized  that 
Christianity,  besides  its  yearning  for  eternal  salvation, 
has  to  perform  on  earth,  by  divine  commission,  a  grand 
task  with  regard  to  the  cosmos.  It  was  this  conception, 
which  Calvinism  eradicated,  cutting  down  at  the  root  in 
the  most  absolute  sense,  every  idea,  that  life  on  earth  were 
ever  destined  to  merit  the  blessedness  of  heaven.  This  bles- 
sedness, for  every  true  Calvinist,  grows  out  of  regeneration, 
and  sealed  by  the  perseverance  of  the  saints.  Where  in 
this  manner  the  assurance   of  faith    supplanted  the  traffic 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  25 

of  indulgences,   Calvinism   called  Christendom  back  to  the 
order    of  creation:    "Replenish    the    earth,    subdue   it  and 
have  dominion  over  everything  that  lives  upon  it."  Christian 
life    as   a   pilgrimage    was    not  changed,  but  the  Calviuist 
became    a    pilgrim,    who,  while  on  his  way  to  our  eternal 
home,    had   yet    to    perform   on   earth  an  important  task. 
The   cosmos,    in   all  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom  of  nature, 
was  spi'ead  out  before,  under  and  above  man.    This  entire 
limitless  field  had  to  be  worked.  To  this  labor  the  Calviuist 
consecrated    himself  with  enthusiasm  and  energy.    For  the 
earth  with  all  that  is  in  it,  had,  according  to  God's  Will,  to  be 
subjected  to  man.  Thus  flourished,  in  those  days, -in  my  native 
country,  agriculture  and  industry,  commerce  and  navigation. 
This  new-born  national  life  awakened  new  needs.  In  order  to 
subdue  the  earth,  a  knowledge  of  the  earth  was  indispensable, 
knowledge  of  its  oceans,'of  its  nature,  and  of  the  attributes  and 
laws    of  this    nature.     And    so    it   came   to   pass  that  the 
people    itself,    who     had    until  now  i-efrained  from  encour- 
aging   science,    by    a    new  and  sparkling   energy,  suddenly 
called    it    into    action,    rousing    it    from    its  slumbers,  and 
spurring    it   on  to  a  sense  of  liberty,  hitherto  entirely  un- 
known. 


And  now  I  approach  my  last  point,  viz.,  the  assertion, 
that  the  emancipation  of  Science  must  inevitably  lead  to 
a  sharp  conflict  of  priciples,  and  that,  for  this  conflict, 
also,  Calvinism  alone  offered  the  ready  solution.  You 
understand,  which  conflict  I  have  in  view.  Free  investi- 
gation leads  to  collisions.  One  draws  the  lines  on  the 
map  of  life  differently  from  his  neighbor.  The  result  is 
the  origin  of  schools  and  tendencies.  Optimists  and 
pessimists.  A  school  of  Kant,  and  a  school  of  Hegel.  Among 
jurists  the  determinists  oppose  the  moralists.  Among  medical 
men  the  homoeopaths  oppose  the  allopaths.  Flutonists  and 
Neptunists,  Darwinists  and  anti-Darwinists  compete  with  one 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  26 

another  in  the  natural  sciences.  Wilhelm  van  Humboldt, 
Jacob  Grimm  and  Max  Mueller  form  different  schools  in 
the  domain  of  language.  Formalists  and  realists  pick  quarrels 
with  one  another  within  the  classical  walls  of  the  philological 
temple.  Everywhere  contention,  conflict,  struggle,  sometimes 
vehement  and  keen,  not  seldom  mixed  with  personal  asper- 
ity. And  yet,  although  the  energy  of  the  difference  of  prin- 
ciple lies  at  the  root  of  all  these  disputes,  these  subordinate 
conflicts  are  entirely  put  in  the  shade  by  the  principal  conflict, 
which  in  all  countries  perplexes  the  mind  most  vehemently, 
the  powerful  conflict  between  those  who  cling  to  the 
confession  of  the  triune  God  and  His  Word,  and  those 
who  seek  the  solution  of  the  world-problem  in  Deism, 
Pantheism  and  Naturalism.  Notice,  that  I  do  not  speak  of 
a  conflict  between  faith  and  science.  Such  a  conflict  does 
not  exist.  Every  science  in  a  certain  degree  starts  from 
faith,  and,  on  the  contrary,  faith,  which  does  not  lead  to 
science,  is  mistaken  faith  or  superstition,  but  real,  gen- 
uine faith  it  is  not.  Every  science  presupposes  faith 
in  self,  in  our  self- consciousness;  presupposes  faith  in  the 
accurate  working  of  our  senses;  presupposes  faith  in 
the  correctness  of  the  laws  of  thought;  presupposes 
faith  in  something  universal  hidden  behind  the  special 
phenomena;  presupposes  faith  in  life;  and  especially  pre- 
supposes faith  in  the  principles,  from  which  we  pro- 
ceed ;  which  signifies,  that  all  these  indispensable  axioms, 
needed  in  a  productive  scientific  investigation,  do  not  come 
to  us  by  proof,  but  are  established  in  our  judgment  by  our 
inner  conception  and  given  with  our  self-consciousness.  On 
the  other  hand  every  kind  of  faith  has  in  itself  an  impulse 
to  speak  out.  In  order  to  do  this  it  needs  words,  terms, 
expressions.  These  words  must  be  the  embodiment  of 
thoughts.  Those  thoughts  must  be  connected  reciprocally 
not  only  with  themselves  but  also  with  our  surroundings, 
with  time  and  eternity,  and  as  soon  as  faith  thus  beams 
forth  in  our  consciousness,  the  need  of  science  and  demon- 


CALVINISM   AND   SCIENCE. 


stration  is  born.  Hence  it  follows,  that  the  conflict  is, 
not  between  faith  and  science,  but  between  the  assertion, 
that  the  cosmos,  as  it  exists  to-day  is  either  in  a  normal 
or  abnormal  condition.  If  it  is  normal,  then  it  moves  by- 
means  of  an  eternal  process  from  its  potencies  to  its  ideal. 
But  if  the  cosmos  in  its  present  condition  is  abnormal,  then 
a  disturbance  has  taken  place,  and  only  a  regenerating 
power  can  warrant  it  the  final  attainment  of  its  goal. 
This,  and  no  other  is  the  principal  antithesis,  which  sepa- 
rates the  thinking  minds  in  the  domain  of  Science  into  two 
opposite  battle-arrays. 

The  formalists  refuse  to  reckon  with  other  than  natural 
data,  do  not  rest  until  they  have  found  an  identical 
interpretation  of  all  phenomena,  and  oppose  with  the  utmost 
vigor,  at  every  turn  of  the  line,  all  attempts  to  break  or 
to  check  the  logical  inferences  of  cause  and  effect.  There- 
fore, they  also  honour  faith  in  a  formal  sense  but  only  as 
far  as  it  remains  in  harmony  with  the  general  data  of  the 
human  consciousness  and  this  be  considered  as  normal. 
Materially  however  they  reject  the  very  idea  of  creation, 
and  can  only  accept  evolution, — an  evolution  without  a  point 
of  departure  in  the  Past,  and  eternally  evolving  itself  in 
the  future,  until  lost  in  the  boundless  Infinite.  No  species, 
not  even  the  species  Homo  sapiens,  originated  as  such,  hut 
within  the  circle  of  natural  data  developed  out  of  lower 
and  preceding  forms  of  life.  Especially  no  miracles,  but 
instead  of  them  the  natural  law,  dominating  in  an  inex- 
orable manner.  No  sin,  but  evolution  from  a  lower  to  a 
higher  moral  position.  If  they  tolerate  the  Holy  .Scriptures 
at  all,  they  do  it  on  condition  that  all  those  parts,  which 
cannot  be  logically  explained  as  a  human  production  be 
exscinded.  A  Christ,  if  necessary,  but  such  a  one  as  is  the 
product  of  the  human  development  of  Israel.  And  in  the  same 
manner  a  God,  or  rather  a  supreme  Being,  but  after  the 
manner  of  the  Agnostics,  concealed  behind  the  visible 
Universe,    or    pantheistically    hiding  in  all  existing  things, 


CALVINISM    AMD    SCIENCE.  28 


and  conceived  of  as  the  ideal  reflection  of  the  human  mind. 

The  Abnormalists,  on  the  other  hand,  who  do  justice  to 
relative  evolution,  but  adhere  to  creation  over  against  an  evolutio 
in  infinitum,  oppose  the  position  of  the  Normalists  with  all  their 
might;  they  maintain  inexorably  the  conception  of  man  as 
an  independent  species,  because  in  him  is  reflected  the  image 
of  God ;  they  conceive  of  sin  as  the  destruction  of  the 
unsinful  human  origin,  and  consequently  as  rebellion  against 
God;  and  for  that  reason  they  postulate  and  maintain  the 
miraculous  as  the  only  means  to  restore  the  abnormal ;  the 
miracle  of  regeneration ;  the  miracle  in  the  Scriptures ;  the 
miracle  in  the  Christ,  descending  as  God  with  his  own  life 
into  ours ;  and  thus,  owing  to  this  regeneration  of  the  ab- 
normal, they  continue  to  find  the  ideal  norm  not  in  the 
natural  but  in  the  Triune  God. 

Not  faith  and  science  therefore,  but  two  scientific  systems 
or  if  you  choose,  two  scientific  elaborations,  are  opposed  to 
each  other,  each  having  its  own  faith.  Nor  may  it  be 
said  that  it  is  here  science  which  opposes  theology,  for 
we  have  to  do  with  two  absolute  forms  of  science,  both 
of  which  claim  the  whole  domain  of  human  knowledge,  and 
both  of  which  have  a  theology  of  their  own  as  the  point  of 
departure  for  their  world-view.  Pantheism  as  well  as  Deism 
i<  a  theological  system  and  w  ithout  reserve  the  entire  modern 
theology  finds  its  home  in  the  science  of  the  Normalists. 
And  finally  they  are  not  relative  opponents,  walking  together 
half  way,  and,  further  on,  peaceably  suffering  one  another 
to  choose  different  paths,  but  they  are  both  in  earnest,  dis- 
puting with  one  another  the  whole  domain  of  life,  and  they 
cannot  desist  from  the  constant  endeavor  to  pull  down  to 
the  ground  the  en/in-  edifice  of  their  respective  controverted 
assertions,  all  the  supports  included,  upon  which  their  asser- 
tions rest.  If  they  did  not  try  this,  they  would  thereby 
show  on  both  sides,  that  they  did  not  honestly  believe  in 
their  starting-point,  and  that  they  were  no  serious  com- 
batants,  and  that  they,  did  not  understand  the  primordial 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  29 

demand  of  science,  which  of  course  claims  unity  of  conception. 
A  formalist,  who  retains  in  his  system  the  slightest 
possibility  of  creation,  of  a  specific  image  of  God  in  man,  of 
sin  as  a  fall,  of  Christ  in  so  far  as  he  transcends  the  human, 
of  regeneration,  as  different  from  evolution,  of  the  Scriptures, 
as  bringing  us  real  oracles  of  God  ;  is  an  amphibious  scholar 
and  forfeits  the  name  of  scientist.  But  on  the  other  side, 
he,  who,  as  Abnormalist,  transforms  creation  to  a  certain 
extent  into  evolution ;  who  does  not  see  in  the  animal  a 
creature,  made  in  the  image  of  man,  but  men's  origin ; 
who  surrenders  the  creation  of  man  in  original  righteous- 
ness ;  and  who  moreover  tries  every  way.  to  explain  regenera- 
tion, Christ,  and  the  Scriptures  as  the  result  of  merely 
human  causes,  instead  of  clinging  with  all  the  energy  of 
his  soul  to  the  Divine  cause,  as  dominating  in  all  this 
over  all  human  data,  must  as  decidedly  be  banished  from 
our  ranks  as  an  amphibious  and  unscientific  man.  The 
normal  and  the  abnormal  are  two  absolutely  differing  starting- 
points,  which  have  nothing  in  common  in  their  origin. 
Parallel  lines  never  intersect.  You  have  to  choose  either 
the  one  or  the  other,  but  whatever  you  may  choose, 
whatever  you  are  as  a  scientific  man,  you  have  to  be  it 
consistently,  not  only  in  the  faculty  of  theology,  but  in  all 
faculties ;  in  your  entire  world  and  life-view ;  in  the  full 
reflection  of  the  whole  world-picture  from  the  mirror  of 
your  human  consciousness. 

Chronologically,  it  is  true,  we  Abnormahsts,  for  many 
ages  in  succession,  have  been  the  speakers,  hardly  ever 
having  been  challenged,  while  our  opponents  have  had  no 
opportunity  to  dispute  our  principles.  With  the  decay  of 
the  old  heathen,  and  the  rise  of  the  Christian  world -view, 
the  conviction  soon  took  deep  root,  that  everything  has  been 
created  by  God.  that  the  species  of  beings  have  been  brought 
into  existence  hy  special  creative  acts,  and  that  among  these 
species  of  beings  man  has  been  created  as  image-bearer  of 
God    in    original   righteousness ;    further,    that  the  original 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  34 

point  for  every  scientist,  then  the  logical  conclusion  is, 
that  it  is  an  impossibility,  that  both  should  agree,  and 
that  every  endeavor  to  make  them  agree  must  be  doomed 
to  failure.  Both,  as  honest  men,  will  feel  duty  bound  to 
erect  such  a  scientific  edifice  for  the  whole  cosmos,  which 
is  in  harmony  with  the  fundamental  data,  given  in  their 
own  self-consciousness. 

You  perceive  immediately  how  radical  and  fundamental 
this  Calvinistic  solution  of  the  perplexing  problem  is;  Science 
is  not  undervalued  or  pushed  aside,  but  postulated  for  the 
cosmos  as  a  whole  and  all  its  parts.  The  claim  is  maintained, 
that  your  science  has  to  form  a  complete  whole.  And  the 
difference  between  the  science  of  the  Normalists  and 
Abnormalists  is  not  founded  upon  any  differing  result 
of  investigation,  but  upon  the  undeniable  difference, 
which  distinguishes  the  self- consciousness  of  the  one  from 
that  of  the  other.  Free  science  is  the  stronghold  we 
defend  against  the  attack  of  her  tyrannical  twin-sister. 
The  Normalist  tries  to  do  us  violence  even  in  our  owTn 
consciousness.  He  tells  us,  that  our  self- consciousness  must 
needs  be  uniform  with  his  own,  and  that  every  thing 
else  wre  imagine  we  find  in  ours,  stands  condemned  as 
self-delusion.  In  other  words,  the  Normalist  wishes  to  wrest 
from  us  the  very  thing,  which,  in  our  self-consciousness,  is 
the  highest  and  holiest  gift,  for  which  a  continual  stream 
of  gratitude  wells  up  from  our  hearts  to  God;  he  calls  a 
lie  in  our  own  souls  that  which  is  more  precious  and  certain 
to  us  than  our  life.  With  royal  pride  our  consciousness 
of  faith,  and  the  indignation  of  our  heart  rise  up  against 
all  this.  We  resign  ourselves  to  the  fate  of  being  slighted 
and  oppressed  in  the  world,  but  we  refuse  to  be  dictated 
to  by  any  one  in  the  sanctuary  of  our  heart.  We  do  not 
assail  the  liberty  of  the  Normalist  to  build  a  well  construed 
science  from  the  premises  of  his  own  consciousness,  but 
our  right  and  liberty  to  do  the  same  thing  we  are 
determined  to  defend,  if  needs  be;  at  any  cost. 


CALVINISM   AND    SCIENCE.  31 


for  a  moment  surely,  public  opinion  was  stupefied  with  sudden 
fright,  but  since  the  mass  of  the  people  lacked  personal  faith, 
this  superficial  reluctance  was  only  of  short  duration.  Within 
a    quarter  of  a   century  the  life-view    of   the    Normalists 
had   conquered    in  a  literal  sense  the  world  in  its   leading 
centre.  And  only  he,  who  adhered  to  the  abnormalist  view  by 
virtue  of  his  personal  faih,  refused  to  join  in  the  chorus  of  those, 
who  sang  the   praises    of   "modern    thought",  and  at  the 
first  brunt,  felt  inclined  to  anathematize  all  science,  retiring 
to    the    tent    of   mysticism.     It    is    true,    for  a  short  time 
theologians   tried  to   defend  their  cause  apologetically,  but 
this    defense    might    be    compared   to  a  man  who  tries  to 
adjust  a  crooked  window-frame,  while  he  is  unconscious  of 
the  fact   that  the  building  is  tottering  on  its  foundations. 
This    is   the   reason,   wiry  the  abler  theologians,  especially 
in  Germany,  imagined,  that  the  best  thing  to  do  would  be 
to  avail  themselves  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  philosophical 
systems  as  a  prop  to  sustain  Christianity.    The  first  result  of 
this  mixture  of  philosophy  and    theology  was  the  so-called 
mediating   theology,    which    gradually    became    poorer  and 
poorer  in  its  theological,  richer  and  richer  in  its  philosophical 
part,   until  at  last  modern  theology  lifted  up  its  head  and 
found    its    glory    in     the     attempt,     to    cleanse    theology 
of  its   abnormal    character    in    such    a    thorough    manner, 
that    Christ    was    transformed     into    a    man,    born    as    we 
are    born,    who    was   not   even    entirely    free    of  sin,   and 
the    Holy  Scriptures   into   a  collection  of  writings,  for  the 
most   part  pseudepigraphic   and   in  every  possible  manner 
interpolated  and  filled  with  myths,  legends  and  fables.  The 
song    of  the  Psalmist:    "We  see  not  our  signs;  they  have 
set  up   their  ensigns  for  signs",  has  been  literally  fulfilled 
by   them.    Christ   and    the  Scriptures  included,  every  sign 
of   the    abnormal    was    rooted    out,   and    the    sign    of  the 
normal    process    embraced    as    the    only    genuine  criterion 
of  truth.  In  this  result,  I  repeat  what  I  have  already  stated, 
there  is  nothing  to  surprise  us.  He,  who  subjectively  looks 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  32 


upon  his  inner  being  and  objectively  upon  the  world  around 
him  as  normal,  cannot  but  speak  as  he  does,  cannot  reach  a 
different  result,  would  be  insincere  in  his  position  as  a 
scientific  man,  if  he  were  to  represent  things  in  a  different 
light.  And  therefore  from  a  moral  point  of  view,  not  thinking 
for  a  moment  of  such  a  man's  responsibility  in  the  judgment 
of  God,  nothing  can  be  said  against  his  personal  stand-point, 
provided  that,  thinking  as  he  does,  he  shows  the  courage,  to 
voluntarily  leave  the  Christian  church  in  all  its  denominations. 


If  the  character  of  the  keen  and  unavoidable  conflict  is 
thus  and  not  otherwise,  behold  then  the  unconquerable 
position  which  Calvinism  points  out  to  us  in  the  strain  and 
struggle,  resulting  from  this  conflict.  It  does  not  keep 
itself  busy  with  useless  apologetics;  it  does  not  turn  the 
great  battle  into  a  skirmish  about  one  of  the  outworks,  but 
immediately  goes  back  to  human  consciousness,  from  which 
the  man  of  science  has  to  proceed  as  his  consciousness.  This 
consciousness,  just  on  account  of  the  abnormal  character 
of  things,  is  not  the  same  in  all.  If  the  normal  condition 
of  things  had  not  been  broken,  consciousness  would  emit 
the  same  sound  from  all:  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  is 
not  the  case.  In  the  one  the  consciousness  of  sin  is  very 
powerful  and  strong,  in  the  other  it  is  either  feeble  or  entirely 
wanting.  In  the  one  the  assurance  of  faith  speaks  with 
decision  and  clearness  as  a  result  of  regeneration,  the  other 
does  not  even  understand  what  it  is.  So  also  in  the  one 
the  Testimonium  Spiritus  Sancti  resounds  loudly  and  in 
tones  firm  and  strong,  while  the  other  declares,  that  he 
has  never  yet  heard  its  testimony.  Now,  these  three,  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  assurance  of  faith  and  the  testimony  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  are  constituent  elements  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  every  Calviuist.  They  form  its  immediate  contents. 
Without  these  three  self-consciousness  does  not  exist  with 
him.     This    the   Normalist    disapproves,    and,  therefore,  he 


CALVINISM   AND   SCIENCE.  3S 

tries  to  force  his  consciousness  upon  us.  and  claims,  that 
our  consciousness  has  to  be  identical  with  his.  From  his 
point  of  view  nothing  else  could  be  expected.  For  if  he 
conceded  that  there  might  be  a  real  difference  between  his 
consciousness  and  ours,  he  would  thereby  have  admitted  a 
break  in  the  normal  condition  of  things  We,  on  the  con- 
trary, do  not  claim,  that  our  consciousness  shall  be  found 
in  him.  It  is  true,  Calvin  maintains,  that  there  is  hidden 
in  the  heart  of  every  man  a  "religious  seed," —  semen 
religionis,  and  that  the  "God-feeling", —  sensus  divinitatis, 
confessed  or  unconfessed,  in  moments  of  intense  mental 
strain,  causes  the  soul  to  tremble,  but  it  is  no  less  true, 
that  it  is  just  his  system,  which  teaches  that  human  con- 
sciousness in  a  man  who  believes  and  in  a  man  who 
disbelieves,  cannot  agree,  but  that  on  the  contrary  disa- 
greement is  inevitable.  He,  who  is  not  born  again,  cannot 
have  a  substantial  knowledge  of  sin,  and  he,  who  is  not 
converted,  cannot  possess  assurance  of  faith;  he  who  lacks 
the  Testimonium  Spiritus  Sancti,  cannot  believe  in  the 
Holy  .Scriptures,  and  all  this  according  to  the  thrilling  saying 
of  Christ  himself:  "Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  Cod";  and  also  according  to  the  saying 
of  the  apostle :  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things 
of  the  spirit  of  Cod."  Calvin  however  does  not  excuse 
unbelievers  on  this  account.  The  day  will  come,  when 
they  will  be  convinced  in  their  own  conscience.  But  with 
regard  to  the  present  condition  of  things  we,  of  course, 
have  to  ackwowledge  two  kinds  of  human  consciousness: 
that  of  the  regenerate  and  the  unregenerate;  and  these 
two  cannot  be  identical.  In  the  one  is  found  what  is 
lacking  in  the  other.  The  one  is  unconscious  of  a  break 
and  clings  accordingly  to  the  normal;  the  other  has  an 
experience  both  of  a  break  and  of  a  change,  and  thus 
possesses  in  his  consciousness  the  knowledge  of  the  abnormal. 
If,  therefore,  it  be  true  that  man's  own  consciousness  is 
his   primum-verum,    and    hence    must   be  also  the   starting- 


CALVINISM   AND   SCIENCE.  34 

point  for  every  scientist,  then  the  logical  conclusion  is, 
that  it  is  an  impossibility,  that  both  should  agree,  and 
that  every  endeavor  to  make  them  agree  must  be  doomed 
to  failure.  Both,  as  honest  men,  will  feel  duty  bound  to 
erect  such  a  scientific  edifice  for  the  whole  cosmos,  which 
is  in  harmony  with  the  fundamental  data,  given  in  their 
own  self-consciousness. 

You  perceive  immediately  how  radical  and  fundamental 
this  Calvinistic  solution  of  the  perplexing  problem  is ;  Science 
is  not  undervalued  or  pushed  aside,  but  postulated  for  the 
cosmos  as  a  whole  and  all  its  parts.  The  claim  is  maintained, 
that  your  science  has  to  form  a  complete  whole.  And  the 
difference  between  the  science  of  the  Normalists  and 
Abnormalists  is  not  founded  upon  any  differing  result 
of  investigation,  but  upon  the  undeniable  difference, 
which  distinguishes  the  self- consciousness  of  the  one  from 
that  of  the  other.  Free  science  is  the  stronghold  we 
defend  against  the  attack  of  her  tyrannical  twin-sister. 
The  Normalist  tries  to  do  us  violence  even  in  our  own 
consciousness.  He  tells  us,  that  our  self-consciousness  must 
needs  be  uniform  with  his  own,  and  that  every  thing 
else  we  imagine  we  find  in  ours,  stands  condemned  as 
self-delusion.  In  other  words,  the  Normalist  wishes  to  wrest 
from  us  the  very  thing,  which,  in  our  self-consciousness,  is 
the  highest  and  holiest  gift,  for  which  a  continual  stream 
of  gratitude  wells  up  from  our  hearts  to  God;  he  calls  a 
lie  in  our  own  souls  that  which  is  more  precious  and  certain 
to  us  than  our  life.  With  royal  pride  our  consciousness 
of  faith,  and  the  indignation  of  our  heart  rise  up  against 
all  this.  We  resign  ourselves  to  the  fate  of  being  slighted 
and  oppressed  in  the  world,  but  we  refuse  to  be  dictated 
to  by  any  one  in  the  sanctuary  of  our  heart.  We  do  not 
assail  the  liberty  of  the  Normalist  to  build  a  well  construed 
science  from  the  premises  of  his  own  consciousness,  but 
our  right  and  liberty  to  do  the  same  thing  we  are 
determined  to  defend,  if  needs  be;  at  any  cost. 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  35 


The  parts  are  now  exchanged.  Not  so  very  long  ago  the 
principal  positions    of  Abnormalism    were  looked  upon    as 
axioms    for  all  sciences   in  almost  all  universities,  and  the 
few  formalists,  who  at  that  time  opposed  the  principle  of 
their  antagonists,  found  it  difficult  to  find  rest  for  the  sole 
of  their  foot.  First  they  were    persecuted,   then   outlawed, 
after    that    at  the    most  tolerated.     But   at    present    they 
are    the   masters  of  the  situation,  control  all  influence,  till 
ninety  per  cent  of  all  professorial  chairs,  and  the  result  is, 
that  the   Ahnormalist.   who    has    been    forced    out    of   the 
official    house,  is  now  obliged    to    look   for   a  place,  where 
he    may    lay   down  his  head.    Formerly    we    showed  them 
the  door,  and  now  this  sinful  assault    upon  their  liberty  is 
by    God's  righteous  judgment  avenged  by  their  turning  us 
out  into  the  street,  and  so  it  becomes  the  question,  if  the 
.oarage,  the  perseverance,  the  energy,  which  enabled  them 
to    win    their    suit  at  last,  will  be  found  now  in  a  still  higher 
degree,  with    Christian   scholars.     May  God  grant  it!    You 
cannot,     nay,    you     even    may    not    think    of    it,    deprive 
him,    whose    consciousness    differs  from   yours,  of  freedom 
of  thought,    of   speech    and   of  the  press.  That  they,  from 
their  standpoint  pull  down  everything  that  is  holy  in  your 
estimation,    is    unavoidable.     Instead    of   seeking  relief  for 
your  scientific  conscience  in  downhearted  complaints,  or  in 
mystic  feeling,  or  in  unconfessional  work,  the  energy  and  the 
thoroughness  of  our  antagonists  must  be  felt  by  every  Christian 
scholar  as  a  sharp  incentive  always  to  go  back  to  principles 
in  his  thinking,  to  renew  all  scientific  investigation  on  the 
lines     of     these    principles,    and    to    glut   the    press    with 
the  burden  of  his  cogent  studies.  If  we  console  ourselves  with 
the    thought,    that    we    may    without   danger  leave  secular 
science  in  the  hands  of  our  opponents,  if  we  only  succeed 
in  saving  theology,  ours  will  be  the  tactics  of  the  ostrich.  To 
confine  yourself  to  the  saving  of  your  upper  room,  when  the 
rest  of  the  house  is  on  fire,  is  foolish  indeed.    Calvin  long 
ago  knew  better,  when  he  asked  for  a  PMlosophia  Christiana, 


CALVINISM    AXD    SCIENCE.  36 


and  after  all  every  faculty,  and  in  these  faculties  every 
single  science,  is  more  or  less  connected  with  the 
antithesis  of  principles,  and  should  consequently  be  per- 
meated by  it.  As  little  may  you.  seek  your  safety  in 
shutting  your  eyes  to  the  actual  conditions  of  things,  wherein 
so  many  Christians  imagine  they  find  a  safe  shield.  Everything 
astronomers  or  geologists,  physicists  or  chemists,  zoologists 
or  bacteriologists,  historians  or  archeologists  bring  to  light 
has  to  be  recorded,  detached  of  course  from  the  hypo- 
thesis they  have  slipped  behind  it,  and  from  the  conclusions 
they  have  drawn  from  it;  but  every  fact  has  to  be  re- 
corded by  you,  also,  as  a  fact,  and  as  a  fact  that  is  to  be 
incorporated  as  well  in  your  science  as  in  theirs. 

In  order  however  to  make  this  possible,  university-life 
has  to  be  subjected  to  a  radical  change.  Until  now 
university-life  presumed,  that  science  grew  up  only  from 
one  homogeneous  human  consciousness,  and  that  nothing  but 
learning  and  ability  determined  whether  you  might  claim 
a  professorial  chair  or  not.  No-one  thought  of  two  lines 
of  universities,  opposed  to  one  another  on  account  of  radical 
difference  of  principle.  Since  however  the  world-wide 
conflict  between  the  Normalists  and  Abnormalists  broke 
out  in  full  force,  the  need  of  a  division  of  university-life 
began  to  be  felt  more  generally  on  both  sides.  The  first 
in  the  field  were,  (I  speak  only  of  Europe),  the  unbe- 
lieving Normalists,  who  founded  the  Universite  Libre  of 
Brussels.  Before  this  in  the  same  Belgium  the  Roman 
Catholic  university  of  Louvain,  in  virtue  of  old  tradi- 
tions, had  been  placed  in  opposition  to  the  neutral- 
universities  of  Liege  and  Ghent.  In  Switzerland  a  uni- 
versity arose  at  Freiburg,  renowned,  although  yet  young, 
as  an  embodiment  of  the  Catholic  principle.  In  Great 
Britain  the  same  principle  is  followed  in  Dublin.  In 
France,  Catholic  faculties  are  pitted  against  the  faculties 
of  the  State  institutions.  And  also  in  the  Netherlands 
Amsterdam    saw   the  birth  of  the  Free  Uuiversity,  for  the 


CALVINISM   AND   SCIENCE.  37 


general  cultivation  of  the  sciences  on  the  foundation  of  the 
Calvinistic  principle. 

If   now,   according  to  the  demands  of  Calvinism,  Church 
and    State    withdraw,    I   do  not  say  their  liberal  gifts,  but 
their     high    authority,    from    university -life,    in    order    that 
the  university  may  be  allowed  to  take  root  and  flourish  in 
its   own   soil,  then  certainly  the  division,  which  is  already 
begun,   will  be  accomplished  of  itself  and  undisturbed,  and 
in    this    domain   also    it  will  he  seen,  that  only  a  peaceful 
separation  of  the  adherents  of  antithetic  principles  warrants 
progress,— honest    progress, —    and    mutual    understanding. 
We    here    call    upon    History    as    our    witness.     First,  the 
emperors  of  Rome  tried  to  realize  the  false  idea  of  one  State, 
but  the  division  of  their  universal  monarchy  into  a  multi- 
tude   of  independent    nations    was   needed,  to  develop  the 
hidden    powers    of   Europe.     After    the  fall   of  the  Roman 
Empire,    Europe    yielded  to   the  enchantment  of  one  world- 
Church,  until  the  reformation  dispelled  this  delusion,  also,  thus 
opening    the    way    for    a    higher  development  of  Christian 
life.    Nowhere  else  is  this  as  clearly  seen  as  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  where  denominational  multiformity  gave 
a    separate    Church-embodiment    to    every    differention     of 
principle.    In  the  idea  of  one  Science  only,  the  old  curse  of 
uniformity    is    yet  maintained;  but  of  this  also  it  may  be 
prophesied,  that  the  days  of  its  artificial  unity  are  numbered 
and  in  this  domain  also  at  last  the  Catholic,  the  Calvinistic 
and  the  Evolutional  principles  will  cause  to  spring  up  different 
spheres    of   scientific    life,    which    will   flourish  in  a  multi- 
formity of  universities.    We  must  have  systems  in  science, 
coherence  in  instruction,   unity  in  education.     That  is  only 
really    free,    which,    while    it    is  strictly  bound  to  its  own 
principle,    has    the    power  to  free  itself  from  all  unnatural 
bonds.    The    final    result,  therefore,  will  be,  thanks  to  Cal- 
vinism,   which    has  opened  for  us  the  way,  that  liberty  of 
science    will    also    triumph    at  last;    first    by    guaranteeing 
full  power  to  every  leading  world-view,  to  reap  a  scientific 


CALVINISM    AND    SCIENCE.  3S 


harvest  from  its  own  principle; — and  secondly,  by  refusing 
the  scientific  name  to  whatsoever  investigator  dare  not 
unroll  the  colours  of  his  own  banner,  and  does  not  show 
emblazoned  on  his  escutcheon  in  letters  of  gold  the  very 
principle,  for  which  he  lives,  and  from  which  his  conclusions 
derive  their  power. 


}uuju4 ^  &,.  j.  y .  L  Im** 


FIFTH  LECTURE. 


CALVINISM  AND  ART. 

In    this  fifth  lecture,  which  is  the  last  but  one,  I  speak 
of  Calvinism  and  Art. 

It  is  not  the  prevailing  tendency  of  the  day  that  induces 
me   to   do   this.     Genuflection   before    an   almost  fanatical 
worship    of   art,    such    as    our    time   fosters,    should    little 
harmonize    with   the    high    seriousness    of   life,    for   which 
Calvinism    has  pleaded,  and  which  it  has  sealed,  not  with 
the    pencil    or    chisel    in    the    studio,    but    with    its    best 
blood    at    the    stake   and  in  the  field  of  battle.     Moreover 
the  love  of  art  which  is  so  broadly  on  the  increase  in  our 
times,   should  not  blind  our  eves,  but  ought  to  be  soberly 
and    critically    examined.     It    presents    the    fact,  which  is 
in    every    way    explainable,    that    artistic    refinement,  thus 
far    restricted   to  a  few  favored  circles,  now  tends  to  gain 
ground    among    broader    middle    classes,    occasionally  even 
betraying    its   inclination   to    descend  to  the  widest  strata 
of  lower   society.     It    is  the  democratizing,  if  you  like,  of 
a   life-utterance   which  hitherto  recommended  itself  by  its 
aristocratic    allurements.     And    though   the  really  inspired 
artist  may  complain  that,  with  the  majority,  piano-playing 
is    mere  strumming,  and  painting  little  more  than  daubing, 


CALVINISM    AXD    ART. 


yet,  the  exuberant  feeling  of  having  a  share  in  the  privi- 
leges of  art  is  so  overwhelming,  that  the  scorn  of  the  artist 
is    preferred  to  the  abandonment  of  art-training  in  educa- 
tion. To  have  laid  a  production  of  your  own,  however  poor, 
upon  the  altar  of  art  becomes  more  and  more  the  characteristic 
of  an  acconrplished  civilization.  Finally,  in  all  this  the  desire 
of  enjoyment   through    ear    and   eye  expresses  itself,  espe- 
cially by  means  of  music  and  of  the  stage.  And  if  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  many  court  these  sensual  pleasures  in  wa  \  s 
that    are   less  noble  and  too  often  sinful,  it  is  equally  cer- 
tain, that  in  many  instances  this  love  of  art  leads  men  to 
seek    enjoyment  in  nobler  directions  and  lessens  the  appe- 
tite  for    lower    sensuality.     Especially    in   our  great  cities, 
stage-managers    are    able    to   provide  such  first-rate  enter- 
tainments, and  the  easy  means  of  communication  between 
the  nations  imparts  such  an  international  character  to  our 
best   singers    and    players,    that    the   finest  artistic  enjoy- 
ments are  now  brought  for  almost  no  price  within  the  reach 
of   an    ever-widening    class.     Besides,    it    is    but    fair    to 
concede  that,  threatened  with  atrophy  by  materialism  and 
rationalism,    the   human  heart  naturally  seeks  an  antidote 
against    this     withering    process,    in    its   artistic    instinct. 
Unchecked,    the    dominating    influences    of  money  and  of 
barren  intellectualism  would  reduce  the  life  of  the  emotions 
to  freezing-point.    And,  unable  to  grasp  the  holier  benefits 
of   religion,    the    mysticism    of  the  heart  reacts  in  an  art- 
intoxication.    Hence,  though  I  do  not  forget  that  the  real 
genius  of  art  seeks  the  heights  of  isolation  rather  than  the 
plains  below,  and  that  our  age,  so  poor  in  the  production 
of  real  creative  art,  is  deemed  to  warm  itself  at  the  splen- 
did   glow  of  the  past;  yea,  though  I  admit,  that  the  homage 
of    art    by    the    profanum  vulgus  must  necessarily  lead  to 
art-corruption,  nevertheless,  in  my  estimation,  even  the  most 
injudicious  aesthetical  fanaticism  stands  far  higher  than  the 
common    race    for    wealth,    or   barren    intellectualism,    or 
an    unholy    prostration   before  the  shrines  of  Bacchus  and 


CALVINISM    AND    ART. 


Verms.  In  this  cold,  irreligious  and  practical  age  the 
warmth  of  this  devotion  to  art  has  kept  alive  many 
higher  aspirations  of  our  soul,  which  otherwise  might 
readily  have  died,  as  they  did  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century.  Thus  you  see,  I  do  not  underestimate  the  pre- 
sent aesthetical  movement.  But  what  'in  the  light  of  History 
should  be  discountenanced,  is  the  mad  endeavor  to  place  it 
higher  than,  or  even  to  make  it  of  equal  value  with  the 
religious  movement  of  the  16th  century,  yet  this  is  what 
I  should  be  doing  if  I  begged  for  Calvinism  the  favor  of  this 
new  artistic  movement.  And  therefore,  when  I  plead  the 
significance  of  Calvinism  in  the  domain  of  art,  I  am  not  in 
the  least  induced  to  do  so  by  this  vulgarization  of  art,  but 
mther  keep  my  eyes  fixed  upon  the  Beautiful  in  its  eternal 
significance,  and  upon  art  as  one  of  the  richest  gifts  of 
God  to  mankind. 

Here,  however,  every  student  of  history  knows  that 
I  founder  upon  a  deeply-rooted  prejudice.  Calvin,  it 
is  said,  was  personally  devoid  of  the  artistic  instinct,  and 
Calvinism  which  in  the  Netherlands  proved  guilty  of 
Icouoclasm,  cannot  but  be  incapable  either  of  artistic 
development  or  of  real,  noteworthy"  art-production.  A  brief 
word  therefore  about  this  strong  prejudice  is  here  in  order. 
Without  putting  too  high  an  estimate  upon  his:  "Wer 
nicht  liebt  Weib,  Wein  and  Gesang,"  it  is  beyond  dispute 
that  Luther  was  more  artisticalby  disposed  than  Calvin ; 
but  what  does  this  prove?  Will  you  deny  Hellenism  its 
artistic  laurels  because,  devoid  of  all  sense  of  the  beautiful, 
Socrates  boasted  of  the  beauty  of  his  gaint  nose  because 
it  allowed  his  breath  to  pass  more  freely  ?  Do  the 
writings  of  John,  Peter  and  Paul,  the  three  pillars  of  the 
Christian  Church,  in  a  single  word  betray  any  special 
appreciation  of  artistic  life  ?  Tea,  be  it  asked  reverently, 
is  there  any  instance,  in  the  Gospels,  of  Christ  ever  plead- 
ing for  art  or  ever  seeking  its  enjoyment  ?  And  when 
these     questions     one    by     one,     must     be    answered    in 


CALVINISM    AND    ART. 


the  negative,  have  you  therefore  the  right  to  deny  the 
fact  that  Christianity  as  such  has  been  of  an  almost 
invaluable  significance  to  the  development  of  art?  And  if 
not,  why  then  would  you  accuse  Calvinism  of  Vandal- 
ism on  the  mere  ground  that  Calvin  personally  had  little 
feeling  for  art  and  that  in  his  writings  he  had  so  little  to 
say  about  it?  And  when  you  speak  of  the  iconoclasm  of 
the  Beggars,  should  you  forget  that  in  the  Sth  century  in 
the  midst  of  the  artistic  and  beautiful  Grecian  world  the 
manly  spirit  of  Leo  Isaurus  instigated  a  still  more  violent 
iconoclasm?  and  should  the  honour  be  denied  to  Byzan- 
tianism  of  having  produced  the  finest  monuments?  Do  }tou 
ask  for  still  further  proof  to  the  contrary?  Well,  more 
sharply  even  than  Leo  Isaurus  in  the  8th  century  or  Nether- 
land's  Beggars  in  the  16th  century,  did  Mahomed  in  his 
Khoran  militate  against  images  of  all  kinds,  but  will  this 
justify  the  charge  that  the  Alhambra  in  Grenada  and  the 
Alcazar  at  Seville  are  no  wonderfully  beautiful  products  of 
architectural  art?  Ah,  there  is  no  progress  in  such  dull 
reasoning  as  this. 

We  must  not  forget  that  the  artistic  instinct  is  an 
universal  human  phenomenon,  but  that  in  connection 
with  national  types,  climates  and  countries,  the  develop- 
ment of  that  artistic  instinct  is  most  unequally  divided 
among  the  nations.  Who  will  look  for  a  development 
of  art  in  Iceland,  and  who  on  the  other  hand  will  not 
scent  it,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  amidst  the  luxury  of 
nature  in  the  Levant  ?  Is  it  then  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
the  South  of  Europe  was  more  favorable  for  the  development 
of  this  artistic  instinct  than  the  North?  And  when 
History  shows  that  Calvinism  was  most  widely  received  by 
the  peoples  of  the  North,  does  it  prove  aught  against  Calvinism, 
that  in  nations,  living  in  a  colder  climate  and  of  poorer 
natural  surroundings,  it  was  not  able  to  quicken  an  artistic 
life  such  as  flourished  among  the  Southern  nations  ?  Because 
Calvinism    preferred   a   worship    of  God    in    spirit    and    in 


CALVINISM    AND    ART. 


truth,  to  sacerdotal  wealth,  it.  has  been  accused  by 
Rome  of  being  devoid  of  an  appreciation  of  art,  and 
because  it  disapproved  of  a  woman  debasing  herself  as  an 
artist's  model  or  casting  away  her  honor  in  the  ballet, 
its  moral  seriousness  has  clashed  with  the  sensualism  of 
those  who  deemed  no  sacrifice  too  sacred  for  the  Goddess 
of  Art.  All  this  however  concerns  only  the  place  which 
art  has  to  occupy  in  the  sphere  of  life,  and  the  bound- 
aries of  its  domain,  but  does  not  touch  art  itself.  To  view 
therefore  from  a  higher  platform  the  significance  of  Cal- 
vinism to  art,  follow  me  in  the  investigation  of  these  three 
points:  1.  why  Calvinism  was  not  allowed  to  develop  an 
art-style  of  its  own ;  2.  what  flows  from  its  principle  for 
the  nature  of  art:  and  3.  what  it  has  actually  done  for 
its  advancement. 


All  would  be  well,  if  only  Calvinism  had  developed  an 
art-style  of  its  own.  Just  as  the  Parthenon  is  boasted  of  at 
Athens,  the  Pantheon  at  Rome,  the  Saint  Sophia  at  Byzan- 
tium, the  Cathedral  at  Cologne,  or  the  Saint  Peter's  at 
the  Vatican,  so  also  ought  Calvinism  to  be  able  to  exhibit 
an  impressive  structure,  embodying  all  the  fulness  of  its 
ideal.  And  that  it  did  not  do  this  is  considered  sufficient 
proof  of  its  artistic  poverty.  Of  course  Calvinism  is  under- 
stood as  having  tried  to  ascend  to  the  same  artistic  luxury, 
but  is  censured  as  having  proved  unable  to  accomplish  it; 
its  barren  inflexibilit}r  being  the  obstacle  that  prevented  even- 
higher  aesthetical  development.  And  when  the  humanist 
boasts  of  the  classic  art  of  old  Hellas,  the  Greek  Church 
of  the  Byzantian,  and  Rome  of  its  Gothic  style,  then 
Calvinism  is  looked  upon  as  standing  confused  in  their 
presence,  perplexed  by  the  painful  charge  of  having  lessened 
the  fulness  of  human  life.  Now  in  opposition  to  this  thoroughly 
unfair  accusation,  I  maintain,  that  for  the  very  reason  of 
its  higher  principle  Calvinism  was  not  permitted  to  develop 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  6 

such  an  art-style  of  its  own.  I  was  bound  in  this  connection 
to  put  architecture  to  the  front,  because  both  in  classic 
and  in  so-called  Christian  art  the  absolute  and  all-embracing 
production  of  art  was  exhibited  in  architecture,  all  the 
other  departments  of  art  finally  adapting  themselves  to  the 
temple,  church,  mosque  or  pagoda.  Scarcely  a  single  art- 
style  can  be  mentioned  which  did  not  arise  from  the  centre 
of  divine  worship  and  which  did  not  seek  the  realization  of 
its  ideals  in  the  sumptuous  structure  for  that  worship. 
This  was  the  thriving  of  an  impulse  which  in  itself  was 
noble.  Art  derived  her  richest  motives  from  Religion. 
The  religious  passion  was  the  gold-mine,  which  financially 
rendered  her  boldest  conceptions  possible.  For  the  real- 
isation of  her  conceptions  in  this  holy  domain  she  found 
not  only  the  narrow  circle  of  artlovers,  but  also  the 
whole  nation  at  her  feet.  Divine  worship  furnished  the 
tie  that  united  the  separated  arts.  And  what  tells  more 
still,  by  this  connexion  with  the  Eternal,  art  received  its 
inner  unity  and  its  ideal  consecration.  And  this  explains 
the  fact  that,  whatever  the  palace  and  the  stage  may 
have  done  for  the  development  of  art,  it  was  always  the 
sanctuary  by  which  it  was  impressed  with  the  stamp  of 
a  special  character  and  to  which  it  was  indebted  for  a  creative 
style.  Art-style  and  the  style  of  worship  coincided.  Now 
of  course,  if  this  wedding  of  art-inspired  worship,  with 
worship-inspired  art  be  no  intermediate  stage,  but  the  real 
and  the  highest  end  to  be  obtained,  then  it  must  frankly 
be  confessed  that  Calvinism  cannot  but  plead  guilty. 
If,  however,  on  the  other  hand,  it  can  be  shown  that 
this  alliance  of  religion  and  art  represents  a  lower 
stage  of  religious,  and  in  general  of  human  development, 
then  it  is  plain,  that  in  this  very  want  of  a  special  art- 
style,  Calvinism  finds  an  even  higher  recommendation.  Being 
fully  convinced  in  my  own  mind  that  this  is  the  case,  I 
proceed  to  account  for  my  conviction. 

The    aesthetic    development  of  divine  worship  carried  to 


CAVESISM   .VXD   ART. 


those  ideal  heights  of  which  the  Parthenon  and  the  Pan- 
theon, the  Saint  Sophia  and  Saint  Peter  are  the  stone- 
embroidered  witnesses,  is  only  possible  at  that  lower  stage 
of  progress  in  which  the  same  form  of  religion  is  imposed 
upon  a  whole  nation,  both  by  prince  and  priest.  In  that 
case  every  difference  of  spiritual  expression  fuses  into  one 
mode  of  symbolical  worship,  and  this  union  of  the  masses, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  magistrate  and  the  clergy, 
furnishes  the  possibility  of  defraying  the  immense  expense  of 
such  colossal  structures,  and  of  ornamenting  and  decorating 
them.  In  the  case  however  of  a  progressive  development  of  the 
nations,  when  individual  character-traits  split  the  unity  of 
the  masses,  Religion  also  rises  to  that  higher  plain  where 
it  graduates  from  the  symbolical  into  the  clearly- conscious 
life,  and  thereby  necessitates  both  the  division  of  worship 
into  many  forms,  and  the  emancipation  of  matured  religion 
from  all  sacerdotal  and  political  guardianship.  In  the  lGth 
century  Europe  was  approaching,  though  slowly,  this  higher 
level  of  spiritual  development,  and  it  was  not  Lutheranism 
with  its  subjection  of  the  whole  nation  to  the  religion 
of  the  prince,  but  Calvinism  with  its  profound  conception  of 
religious  liberty,  which  initiated  the  transition.  In  every 
country  where  Calvinism  has  made  its  appearance,  it  has 
led  to  a  multiformity  of  life-tendencies,  it  has  broken  the 
power  of  the  State  within  the  domain  of  religion,  and  to  a 
great  extent  has  made  an  end  of  sacerdotalism.  As  a  result 
of  this,  it  abandoned  the  symbolical  form  of  worship,  and 
refused,  at  the  demand  of  art,  to  embody  its  religious  spirit 
in  monuments  of  splendor. 

The  objection  that  such  a  symbolic  service  had  a  place  in 
Israel  does  not  weaken  my  argument,  it  rather  supports  it. 
For  does  not  the  New  Testament  teach  us  that  the  ministry 
of  shadows,  naturally  flourishing  under  the  old  dispensation, 
under  the  dispensation  of  fulfilled  prophecy  is  "old  and  waxeth 
aged  and  is  nigh  unto  vanishing  away?"  In  Israel  we  find 
a  state-religion,   which  is  one  and  the  same  for  the  entire 


CALVINISM    AXU    ART.  8 


people.  That  religion  is  under  sacerdotal  leadership.  And 
finally  it  makes  its  appearance  in  symbols,  and  is  consequently 
embodied  in  the  splendid  temple  of  Solomon.  But  when  this 
ministry  of  shadows  has  served  the  purposes  of  the  Lord, 
Christ  comes  to  prophecy  the  hour  when  God  shall  no 
longer  be  worshipped  in  the  monumental  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
but  shall  rather  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
And  in  keeping  with  this  prophecy  you  find  no  trace  or 
shadow  of  art  for  worship  in  all  the  apostolic  literature. 
Aaron's  visible  priesthood  on  earth  gives  place  to  the  in- 
visible High-priesthood  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  in 
Heaven.  The  purely  spiritual  breaks  through  the  nebula  of 
the  symbolical. 

My  second  proof  is  that  this  agrees  entirely  with  the 
higher  relation  between  Religion  and  Art.  Here  I  appeal 
to  Hegel  and  Von  Hartmann  who,  both  standing  outside 
Calvinism,  may  be  relied  upon  as  being  disinterested 
witnesses.  Hegel  says  that  art,  which,  at  a  lower  stage 
of  development,  imparts  to  a  still  sensual  religion  its 
highest  expression  and  animation,  finally  helps  it  by  these 
very  means  to  cast  off  the  fetters  of  sensuality;  for 
though  it  must  be  granted  that  at  a  lower  level  it  is 
only  the  aesthetical  worship  that  liberates  the  spirit, 
nevertheless,  he  concludes,  "beautiful  art  is  not  its 
highest  emancipation,"  for  that  is  only  found  in  the 
realm  of  the  invisible  and  spiritual.  And  Von  Hartmann 
even  more  emphatically  declares  that:  Originally  Divine 
worship  appeared  inseparably  united  to  art,  because,  at 
the  lower  stage,  Religion  is  still  inclined  to  lose  itself 
in  the  aesthetic  form.  At  that  period,  all  the  arts  engage 
in  the  service  of  the  cult,  not  merely  music,  painting, 
sculpture  and  architecture,  but  also  the  dance,  mimicry 
and  the  drama.  The  more,  on  the  other  hand,  Religion 
develops  into  spiritual  maturity,  the  more  it  will  extricate 
itself  from  art's  bandages,  because  art  always  remains 
incapable    of    expressing    the    very    essence     of    Religion. 


CALVINISM    AND    ART. 


And  the  final  result  of  this  historic  process  of  separation 
must  be,  that  Religion,  when  fully  matured,  will  rather 
entirely  abstain  from  the  stimulant  by  which  aesthetic  pseudo- 
emotion  intoxicated  it,  in  order  to  concentrate  itself  wholly 
and  exclusively  upon  the  quickening  of  those  emotions 
which  are  purely  religious'*  And  both  Hegel  and  Von 
Hartmann  are  correct  in  this  fundamental  thought.  Religion 
and  Art  have  each  a  life-sphere  of  their  own;  these 
may  at  first  be  scarcely  distinguishable  from  each  other 
and  therefore  closely  intertwined,  but,  with  a  richer  de- 
velopment, these  two  spheres  necessarily  separate.  Looking 
at  two  babies  in  a  cradle  you  can  scarcely  tell  which  is 
boy  or  girl,  but  when,  having  reached  the  years  of 
maturity,  they  stand  before  you,  as  man  and  woman,  you 
see  them  both  with  forms,  and  traits,  and  modes  of  expres- 
sion, peculiarly  their  own.  And  so,  arrived  at  their  highest 
development,  both  Religion  and  Art  demand  an  independ- 
ent existence,  and  the  two  stems  which  at  first  were 
intertwined  and  seemed  to  belong  to  the  same  plant, 
now  appear  to  spring  from  a  root  of  their  own.  This 
is  the  process  from  Aaron  to  Christ,  from  Bezaleel  and 
Aholiab  to  the  Apostles.  And,  by  virtue  of  that  same 
process,  Calvinism  occupies  a  higher  standpoint  in  the 
16th  century  than  Romanism  could  reach.  Consequently 
Calvinism  was  neither  able,  nor  even  permitted,  to  develop 
an  art-style  of  its  own  from  its  religious  principle.  To  have 
done  this  would  have  been  to  slide  back  to  a  lower  level 
of  religious  life.  On  the  contrary,  its  nobler  effort  must  be 
to  release  religion  and  divine  worship  more  and  more  from 
its  sensual  form  and  to  encourage  its  vigorous  spirituality. 
This  it  was  enabled  to  do  because  of  the  powerful  pulse- 
beat  by  which  at  that  time  the  religious  life  coursed  through 
the  arteries  of  mankind.  And  the  fact  that  in  these  days, 
our  Calvinistic  churches  are  deemed  cold  and  unheimish,  and 
a  reintroduction  of  the  symbolical  in  our  places  of  worship 
is   longed    for,    we    owe  to  the  sad  reality  that  the  pulse- 


CALVINISM   AND    ART.  10 


beat  of  the  religious  life  in  our  times,  is  so  much  fainter  than 
it  was  in  the  days  of  the  martyrs.  But  so  far  from  borrow- 
ing from  this  the  right  of  redescending  to  a  lower  level 
of  religion,  this  faintness  of  the  religious  life  ought  to 
inspire  the  prayer  upon  the  lips  of  God's  children  for  a 
mightier  inworking  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Second  childhood, 
in  your  old  age,  is  a  painful,  retrograde  movement.  The 
man  who  fears  God,  and  whose  faculties  remain  clear  and 
unimpaired,  does  not  on  the  brink  of  age  return  to  the 
playthings  of  his  infancy. 

One  more  objection  might  maintain  itself  after  this  demon- 
stration, and  that  too  I  want  to  face.  The  question  may 
be  asked  whether  a  really  independent  life-tendency  should 
not  create  its  own  art-style,  even  if  it  developed  itself  as 
absolutely  secular.  Let  the  real  meaning  of  the  objection 
be  well  understood.  It  does  not  suggest  that  Calvinism 
if  truly  possessed  of  an  aesthetic  significance,  should  have 
given  a  certain  direction  to  the  practice  of  art,  for  the 
fact  that  Calvinism  has  truly  done  this  will  presently  show 
itself.  The  point  of  this  objection  hits  deeper,  and  puts  the 
question:  whether  in  the  first  place  a  secular  art-style  is 
conceivable ;  and  in  the  second  place,  whether  the  creation 
of  such  a  purely  secular  and  dominating  art-style  could 
have  been  demanded  of  Calvinism.  The  answer  I  make 
to  the  first  is:  that  in  the  history  of  art  no  record  of 
the  rise  of  such  an  all-embracing  art-style  independent 
of  Religion,  is  to  be  found.  Mark  you,  I  do  not  here 
speak  of  a  school  of  a  single  art.  but  of  an  art- style 
which  puts  a  concentric  impress  upon  all  the  arts  together. 
To  a  certain  degree  it  could  be  asserted  of  Roman  art 
and  of  that  of  the  Renaissance  that,  although  devoid  of 
a  leading  religious  impulse,  they  nevertheless  reached 
an  all-sided  revelation  in  art-forms.  Speaking  of  archi- 
tecture, the  dome  in  Roman  and  Byzantian  art  is  not 
an  expression  of  a  religious  thought  but  of  political  energy. 
The    dome    symbolizes    world-power,    and,    though  it  may 


CALVINISM    AND    AKT.  II 


be  in  a  different  sense,  of  the  Renaissance  also  it  must 
be  confessed,  that  it  did  not  take  its  rise  in  religion, 
but  in  the  circles  of  civil  and  social  life.  Now  the  Renais- 
sance will  be  considered  more  fully  in  the  third  part  of 
this  lecture,  but  with  respect  to  the  Roman  art-style  I 
here  answer,  first,  that  a  style,  which  borrowed  almost  all 
its  motives  from  Greek  art  can  scarcely  boast  of  an  inde- 
pendent character ;  and  secondly,  that,  in  Rome,  the  State- 
idea  had  become  so  identified  with  the  Religious  idea,  that 
when,  in  the  period  of  the  emperors,  art  reached  its  height 
of  prosperity  while  sacrifices  were  burned  to  Divus  Au- 
gustus, it  is  unhistorical  to  consider  State  and  Religion 
any  longer  as  being  at  that  time  separate  spheres. 

But,  apart  from  this  historic  outcome,  it  may  be 
questioned,  whether  such  an  all-embracing  art-style  ever 
could  have  originated  outside  of  Religion.  The  rise  of  such 
a  style  demands  a  central  motive  in  the  mental  and 
emotional  life  of  a  people,  which  shall  dominate  the  whole 
existence  from  within,  and  which  consequently  carries 
its  effect  from  this  spiritual  centre  to  its  outermost 
circumference.  Not  of  course  as  though  a  national  world 
of  art  ever  could  be  the  product  of  intellectual  thought. 
Intellectual  art  is  no  art,  and  the  effort  put  forth  by  Hegel 
to  draw  art  from  thoughts,  militated  against  the  very 
nature  of  art.  Our  intellectual,  ethical,  religious  and  aesthetic 
life  each  commands  a  sphere  of  its  own.  These  spheres 
run  parallel  and  do  not  allow  the  derivation  of  one  from 
the  other.  It  is  the  central  emotion,  the  central  impulse, 
and  the  central  animation,  in  the  mystical  root  of  our 
being,  which  seeks  to  reveal  itself  to  the  outer  world  in 
this  fourfold  ramification.  Art  also  is  no  side-shoot  on  a 
principal  branch,  but  an  independent  branch  that  grows 
from  the  trunk  of  our  life  itself,  even  though  it  is  tar 
more  nearly  allied  to  Religion  than  to  our  thinking  or  to 
our  ethical  being.  If  however  it  be  asked  how  there  can 
arise   a  unity  of  conception  embracing  these  four  domains, 


CALVINISM    AND   ART.  12 


it  constantly  appears  that  in  the  finite  this  unity  is  only 
found  at  that  point  where  it  springs  from  the  fountain  of 
the  Infinite.  There  is  no  unity  in  your  thinking  save  by 
a  well-ordered  philosophical  system,  and  there  is  no  system 
of  philosophy  which  does  not  ascend  to  the  issues  of  the 
Infinite.  In  the  same  way  there  is  no  unity  in  your  moral 
existence  save  by  the  union  of  your  inner  existence  with 
the  moral  world-order,  and  there  is  no  moral  world-order 
conceivable  but  for  the  impression  of  an  Infinite  power 
that  has  ordained  order  in  this  moral  world.  Thus  also 
no  unity  in  the  revelation  of  art  is  conceivable,  except  by 
the  art-inspiration  of  an  Eternal  Beautiful,  which  flows  from 
the  fountain  of  the  Infinite,  and  raises  us  to  the  Infinite. 
Hence  no  characteristic  all-embracing  art-style  can  arise 
except  as  a  consequence  of  the  peculiar  impulse  from  the 
Infinite  that  operates  in  our  inmost  being.  And  since  this  is 
the  very  privilege  of  Religion,  over  intellect,  morality  and  art, 
that  she  alone  effects  the  communion  with  the  Infinite  in 
our  self-consciousness,  the  call  for  a  secular,  all-embracing 
art-style,  independent  of  any  religious  principle,  is  simply 
absurd. 

r  Understand  that  art  is  no  fringe  that  is  attached  to 
the  garment,  and  no  amusement  that  is  added  to  life,  but 
a  most  serious  power  in  our  .present  existence,  and  there- 
fore its  principal  variations  must  maintain,  in  their  artistic 
expression,  a  close  relation  with  the  principal  vari- 
ations of  our  entire  lite;  and  since,  without  exception, 
these  principal  variations  of  our  entire  human  existence 
are  dominated  by  our  relation  to  God,  would  it  not  be 
both  a  degradation  and  an  underestimation  of  art,  if  you 
were  to  imagine  the  ramifications,  into  which  the  art-trunk 
divides  itself,  to  be  independent  of  the  deepest  root 
which  all  human  life  has  in  God  1\  Consequently  no  art-style 
has  sprung  from  the  Rationalism  of  the  18th  century,  nor 
from  the  principle  of  1789,  and  however  grievous  it  may 
be  to  our  19th  centurv,  all  her  efforts  to  create  a  new  art- 


CALVINISM   AND   AKT.  13 


style  of  her  own,  have  ended  in  perfect  failure,  and  then 
only  do  her  artistic  productions  possess  a  real  charm 
when  she  allows  herself  to  be  inspired  by  the  wonders 
of  the  past. 

Thus  by  itself  the  possibility  must  be  denied  that 
a  proper  art-style  can  originate  independently  of  religion ; 
but  even  if  this  were  otherwise,  it  would  still  be  illogical, 
and  this  was  my  second  argument,  to  demand  such  a 
secular  tendency  of  Calvinism.  For  how  can  you  desire 
that  a  life-movement,  which  found  the  origin  of  its 
power  in  the  arraignment  of  all  men  and  of  all  human 
life  before  the  face  of  God,  should  have  sought  the  impulse, 
the  passion  and  the  inspiration  for  its  life  oaf  side  of  God  in 
so  exceedingly  important  a  domain  as  that  of  the  mighty 
arts  ?  There  remains,  therefore,  no  shadow  of  a  reality  in 
the  scornful  reproach  that  the  non- creation  of  an  art-style 
of  its  own  is  a  conclusive  proof  of  Calvinism's  artistic 
poverty.  Only  under  the  auspices  of  its  religious  principle 
could  Calvinism  have  created  a  general  art-style,  and  just 
because  it  had  reached  a  so  much  higher  stage  of  religious 
development,  its  very  principle  forbade  it  the  symbolical 
expression  of  its  religion  in  visible  and  sensual  forms. 


Hence  the  question  must  be  differently  stated.  And  this 
brings  us  to  our  second  point.  The  question  is  not  whether 
Calvinism  produced  what,  with  its  higher  view-point  it  was 
no  longer  allowed  to  create,  viz.,  a  general  art -style  of 
its  own,  but  what  interpretation  of  the  nature  of  art  /tows 
from  its  principle.  In  other  words,  is  there  in  the  life- and 
world-view  of  Calvinism  a  place  for  art,  and  if  so,  what 
place  ?  Is  its  principle  opposed  to  art,  or,  if  judged  by  the 
standards  of  the  Calvinistic  principle,  would  a  world  without 
art  loose  one  of  its  ideal  spheres?  I  do  not  speak  now  of 
the  abuse,  but  simply  of  the  use  of  art.  In  every  domain, 
life    is   bound    to    respect    the    dimensions  of  this  domain. 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  14 


Encroachment  on  the  domain  of  others  is  always  unlawful ; 
and  our  human  life  will  only  then  attain  its  nobler  harmony 
when   all   its  functions  cooperate  in  just  proportion  to  our 
general  development,  The  logic  of  the  mind  may  not  scorn 
the  feelings  of  the  heart,  nor  should  the  love  of  the  beau- 
tiful silence  the  voice  of  conscience.  However  holy  Religion 
may   be,    it    must  keep    within    its    own    bounds,   lest,  in 
crossing    its   lines,  it  degenerate  into  superstition,  insanity 
or    fanaticism.     Hypertrophy   of  the  head,  accompanied  by 
atrophy     of  the    heart,    results    in    a    sickly    development, 
and,    in    the    same  way,  the  too  exuberant  passion  for  art 
which  laughs  at  the  whispering  of  conscience,  must  end  in 
an      unlovely    discord    quite     different     from     what     the 
Greeks      exalted     in     their     Mokagathos.     The    fact,     for 
instance,    that    Calvinism    arrayed    itself    against    all    un- 
holy    play    with    woman's  honor,    and    stigmatized    every 
form     of   immoral    artistic    enjoyment    as    a    degradation, 
lies    therefore    outside    our    scope.     All    this    properly    de- 
nounces   the    abuse,    while    it  carries  no  weight    whatever 
with     the    question    of    the    lawful    use.     And    that    the 
lawful    use    of   art    was    not   opposed,  but  encouraged  and 
even    recommended,     by    Calvin    himself,    his    own    words 
readily    prove.     When    the   Scripture    mentions    the    first 
appearance  of  art,  in  the  tents  of  Jubal,  who  invented  the 
harp     and     organ,    Calvin    emphatically   reminds    us   that 
this   passage  treats  of  '-excellent  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
He    declares  that  in  the  artistic  instinct  God  had  enriched 
Jubal    and   his    posterity   with  rare  endowments.     And  he 
frankly    states    that    these    inventive    powers  of  art  prove 
most    evident    testimonies    of    the    Divine   bounty.    More 
emphatically    still,    he    declares,    in    his  commentaries  on 
Exodus,    that    "all  the  arts  come  from  God  and  are  to  be 
respected    as    Divine    inventions."     According    to    Calvin, 
these  precious  things  of  the  natural  life  we  owe  originally 
to    the    Holy    Ghost.     In    all  Liberal  Arts,  in  the  most  as 
well    as    in    the    least    important,  the  praise  and   glory  of 


CALVINISM   .VXD   ART.  15 


God   are   to    be    enhanced.     The   arts,  says  he,  have   been 
given    us    for  our   comfort,  in  this  our  depressed  estate  of 
life.     They  react  against  the  corruption  of  life  and  nature 
by    the  curse.     When  his  colleague,  Prof.  Cop,  at  Geneva, 
took    up    arms     against    art,    Calvin   purposely    instituted 
measures,   by   which,    as   he   writes,  to  restore  this  foolish 
man    to    sounder    sense    and    reason.    The    blind   prejudice 
against  Sculpture,  on  the  ground  of  the  Second  Commandment, 
Calvin  declares  unworthy  of  refutation.  He  exults  in  Music 
as    a    marvellous    power    to   move    hearts   and  to  ennoble 
tendencies  and  morals.  Among  the  excellent  favors  of  God 
for    our  recreation  and  enjoyment,  it  occupies  in  his  mind 
the  highest  rank.  And  even  when  art  condescends  to  become 
the  instrument   of   mere    entertainment  to  the  masses,  he 
asserts    that    this    sort  of  pleasure   should  not  lie   denied 
them.     In  view  of  all  this  we  may  say,  that  Calvin  esteemed 
art,  in  all  its  ramifications,  as  a  gift  of  God,  or,  more  especially, 
as    a    gift   of  the    Holy   Ghost;    that  he  fully  grasped  the 
profound  effects  worked  by  art  upon  the  life  of  the  emotions; 
that  he  appreciated  the  end  for  which  art  has  been  given, 
vis.,   that  by  it  we  might  glorify  God,  and  ennoble  human 
life,    and    drink    at   the    fountain    of  higher  pleasures,  yea 
even    of   common  sport;  and  finally,  that  so  far  from  con- 
sidering   art   as   a  mere  imitation  of  nature,  he  attributed 
to  it  the  noble  vocation  of  disclosing  to  man  a  higher  reality 
than  was  offered  to  us  by  this  sinful  and  corrupted  world. 
Now  if  it  implied  nothing  beyond  the  personal  interpretation 
of  Calvin,    this   testimony    would   of  course    have  no  con- 
clusive value  for  Calvinism  in  general.  But  when  we  observe 
that   Calvin   himself  was    not  gifted  with  personal  artistic 
talents,  and  that  therefore  he  must  have  derived  this  brief 
system  of  Aesthetics  directly  from  his  principle,  he  may  be 
credited  with  having  expounded  the  Calvinistic  consideration 
of  art   as  such.     And  it  is  not  difficult  to  show  that  such 
is  the    case.    To    go  direct   to    the    heart  of  the  cpiestion, 
we    begin    with    Calvin's  last  saying,  viz.,  that  art  reveals 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  16 


to  us  a  higher  reality  than  is  offered  by  this  sinful  world. 
You    are    familiar    with    the    question,    so    often   debated 
in    art    circles,    whether    art    should    imitate    nature    or 
should  transcend  it.  Grapes  were  painted  with  such  accuracy 
that   birds  were    deceived    by    their  appearance  and  tried 
to   eat   them.     And   this   imitation   of  nature  seemed   the 
highest     ideal     to    the    Socratic    school.     Herein    lies    the 
truth,   all   too  often  forgotten  by  idealists,  that  the  forms 
and  relations  exhibited  by  nature  are  and  ever  must  remain 
the   fundamental   forms    and  relations  of  all  actual  reality, 
and    an  art  which  does  not  watch  the  forms  and  motions 
of  nature  nor  listen  to  its  sounds,  but  arbitrarily  likes  to 
hover    over    it,    deteriorates    into    a    wild   play  of  fantasy. 
On  the  other  hand  all  idealistic  interpretation  of  art  should 
be  justified    in  opposition  to  the  purely  empirical,  as  often 
as  the  empirical  confines  its  task  to  the  mere  imitation  of 
nature.    For  then  the  same  mistake  is  committed  in  art  so 
often    committed    by    scientists    when    they   confine    their 
scientific    task    to  the   mere   observation,   computation  and 
accurate    report    of   facts.    And    even    as    science    has   to 
ascend   from    the   phenomena  to  the  investigation  of  their 
inherent    order,    to    the    end    that    man,    enriched    by  the 
knowledge    of    this    order,  may  propagate  nobler  species  oi 
animals,  flowers  and  fruits,  than  nature,  herself,  could  produce, 
so  also  it  is  the  vocation  of  art,  not  merely  to  observe  every 
thing  visible  and  audible,  and  to  apprehend  it,  and  reproduce 
it  artistically,  but  much  more  to  discover  in  those  natural 
forms   the    order    of   the    beautiful,  and,   enriched   by  this 
higher  knowledge,  to  produce  a  beautiful  world  that  tran- 
scends   the    beautiful   of  nature.     And  this  is  what  Calvin 
asserted ;  viz.,  that  the  arts  exhibit  gifts  which  God  has  placed 
at    our  disposal,  now  that,   as  the  sad  consequence  of  sin, 
the    real    beautiful    has   fled  from  us.— Your  decision  here 
depends  entirely  upon  your  interpretation  of  the  world.  If  you 
are  considering  the  world  as  the  realisation  of  the  absolute 
good,  then  there  is  none  higher,  and  art  can  have  no  other  voca- 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  .  17 


tion  than  to  copy  nature.  If,  as  the  pantheist  teaches,  the  world 
proceed,  by  slow  processes,  from  the  incomplete  to  perfection, 
then    art    becomes   the  prophecy  of  a  higher  phase  of  life 
to    come.     But    if  you    confess    that    the   world   was  once 
beautiful,    but    by   the   curse  has  become  undone,  and  by  a 
final  catastrophy  is  to  pass  to  its  full  state  of  glory,  excel- 
ling even  the  beautiful  of  paradise,  then  art  has  the  mystical 
task   of  reminding    us    in   its   productions  of  the  beautiful 
that  was  lost  and  of  anticipating  in  its  coming  lustre.  Now 
this   last-mentioned    instance   is  the   Calvinistic  confession. 
It  realized,  more  clearly  than  Rome,  the  hideous,  corrupting 
influences   of   sin;  this    led    to   a  higher  estimation  of  the 
nature   of  paradise  in  the  beaut}-  of  original  righteousness, 
and   guided    by   this    enchanting   remembrance.  Calvinism 
prophesied   a    redemption    of   outward    nature    also,    to  be 
realized  in  the  reign  of  celestial  glory.  From  this  standpoint, 
Calvinism  honored  art  as  a   gift  of  the  holy  Ghost  and  as 
a    consolation    in    our  present  life,  enabling  us  to  discover 
in  and    behind    this    sinful  life  a  richer  and  more  glorious 
background.     Standing  by  the  ruins  of  this  once  so  wonder- 
fully beautiful  creation,  art  points  out  to  the  Calvinist  both 
the  still  visible  lines  of  the  original  plan,  and  what  is  even 
more,  the  splendid  restoration  by  which  the  Supreme  Artist 
and  Master-Builder  will  one  day  renew  and  enhance  even  the 
beauty  of  His  original  creation. 

If  thus,  on  this  principal  point,  Calvin's  personal  inter- 
pretation agrees  entirely  with  the  Calvinistic  confession, 
the  same  applies  to  the  next  point  in  question.  If  the  Sover- 
eignty of  God  is  and  remains,  for  Calvinism,  its  unchangeable 
point  of  departure,  then  art  cannot  originate  from  the 
Evil  One;  for  Satan  is  destitute  of  every  creative  power. 
All  he  can  do  is  to  abuse  the  good  gifts  of  God.  Neither 
can  art  originate  with  man,  for,  being  a  creature  himself, 
man  cannot  but  employ  the  powers  and  gifts,  put  by 
God  at  his  disposal.  If  God  is  and  remains  Sovereign, 
then    art   can    work   no    enchantment   except     in   keeping 


CALVINISM   AND    ART.  18 


with  the  ordinances  which  God  ordained  for  the  beautiful, 
when  He,  as  the  Supreme  Artist,  called  this  world  into 
existence.  And,  further,  if  God  is  and  remains  Sovereign,  then 
he  also  imparts  these  artistic  gifts  to  whom  He  will,  first 
even  to  Cain's,  and  not  to  Abel's  posterity;  not  as  if  art 
were  Cainitic,  but  in  order  that  he  who  has  sinned  away 
the  highest  gifts,  should  at  least,  as  Calvin  so  beautifully 
says,  in  the  lesser  gifts  of  art  have  some  testimony  of 
the  Divine  bounty.  That  artistic  ability,  that  art-capacity, 
as  such,  can  have  room  in  buman  uature.  we  owe  to  our 
creation  after  the  image  of  God.  In  the  real  world,  God  is 
Creator  of  everything  ;  the  power  of  producing  new  things  is 
His  alone,  and  therefore  He  always  continues  to  be  the  creative 
artist.  As  God,  He  alone  is  the  original  One,  we  are  only 
the  bearers  of  His  Image.  Our  capacity  to  create  after 
Him  and  after  what  He  created,  can  only  consist  in  the 
unreal  creations  of  art.  So.  we,  in  our  fashion,  may  imitate 
God's  handiwork,  and  feel  impelled  by  God  Himself  to 
create  a  kind  of  cosmos  in  our  architectural  monumeut;to 
embellish  nature's  forms,  in  Sculpture;  to  reproduce  life, 
animated  by  lines  and  tints,  in  our  painting :  to  transfuse 
the  mystical  spheres  in  our  Music  and  in  our  poetry.  And 
all  this  because  the  beautiful  is  not  the  product  of  our  own 
fantasy,  nor  of  our  subjective  perception,  but  has  an  objective 
existence,  being  itself  the  expression  of  a  Divine  perfection. 
After  the  Creation,  God  saw  that  all  things  were  good. 
Imagine  that  every  human  eye  were  closed  and  every  human 
ear  stopped  up,  even  then  the  beautiful  remains,  and  God 
sees  it  and  hears  it,  for,  not  only  "His  Eternal  Power", 
but  also  His  "Divinity'",  from  the  very  creation,  has  been 
perceived  in  his  creature,  both  spiritually  and  somatically. 
An  artist  may  notice  this  in  himself.  If  he  realizes  how 
his  own  art -capacity  depends  upon  his  having  an  eye  for 
art,  he  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  original  eye  for 
art  is  in  God  Himself,  Whose  art  capacity  is  all-producing, 
and  after  Whose  image  the  artist  among  men  was  made. 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  19 


We  know  this  from  the  creation  around  us,  from  the  firmament 
that  overarches  us,  from  the  abounding  luxury  of  nature, 
from  the  wealth  of  forms  in  man  and  animal,  from  the 
rushing  sound  of  the  stream  and  from  the  song  of  the 
nightingale;  for  how  could  all  this  beauty  have  been  created, 
except  by  One  who  preconceived  the  beautiful  in  His  own 
Nature,  and  produced  it  from  his  own  Divine  perfection? 
Thus  you  see  that  the  Sovereignty  of  God,  and  our  creation 
after  His  Likeness,  necessarily  lead  to  that  high  interpreta- 
tion of  the  origin,  the  nature  and  the  vocation  of  art,  as 
adopted  by  Calvin  and  still  approved  by  our  own  artistic 
instinct.  The  world  of  sounds,  the  world  of  forms,  the 
world  of  tints  and  the  world  of  poetic  ideas,  can  have  no 
other  source  than  God,  and  it  is  our  privilege  as  bearers  of 
His  image,  to  have  a  perception  of  this  beautiful  world  and 
to  be  able  to  enjoy  it. 


And  thus  we  come  to  the  third  and  last  point  to  be 
investigated.  We  found  that  the  want  of  an  art-style  of 
its  own  is  no  objection  against  Calvinism,  but  on  the 
contrary  indicates  the  higher  stage  of  its  development. 
After  that,  we  considered  how  exalted  an  interpretation 
of  the  nature  of  art  flows  from  the  Calvinistic  principle. 
And  now  let  us  see  how  nobly  Calvinism  has  encouraged 
the    progress   of  the  arts  both  in  principle  and  in  practice. 

And  here,  in  the  first  place,  I  draw  your  attention  to  the 
important  fact  that  it  was  ( lalvinism  who,  by  releasing  art 
from  the  guardianship  of  the  Church,  first  recognized  its 
majority.  I  do  not  deny  that  the  Renaissance  had  the  same 
tendency,  but,  with  the  Renaissance,  this  was  marred  by  a 
too  one-sided  preference  for  the  Paganistic,  and  a  passion 
for  ideas  more  Heathen  than  Christian ;  while  Calvin,  on  the 
other  hand,  kept  firmly  to  the  Christian  ideas,  and  more 
sharply  even  than  any  other  Reformer  opposed  every 
Paganistic  influence.    To  deal  justly  however  with  the  older 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  20 


Christian  Church  a  somewhat  fuller  explanation  is  here  in 
place.  The  Christian  Religion  made  its  appearance  in  a 
world,  which,  though  thoroughly  demoralized,  still  recom- 
mended itself  by  its  high  civilization  and  its  artistic  splendour. 
Therefore,  in  order  to  oppose  principle  to  principle,  Christ- 
ianity was  bound,  at  the  outset,  to  react  against  the  then- 
dominating  overestimation  of  art,  and  thereby  to  break  the 
dangerous  influence  which  Paganism  was  exercising,  in  its 
last  convulsion,  by  tbe  enchantment  of  its  beautiful  world. 
As  long,  therefore,  as  the  struggle  with  Paganism  remained 
a  struggle  for  life  or  death,  the  relation  of  Christianity  to 
art  could  not  but  lie  an  hostile  one.  This  first  period  was 
followed  almost  immediately  by  the  influx  into  the  highly 
civilized  Roman  Empire  of  the  still  almost  barbaric  Germanic 
tribes,  after  whose  speed}'  baptism  the  centre  of  pow7er 
gradually  removed  from  Italy  to  beyond  the  Northern 
Alps,  thus  giving,  to  the  Church,  as  early  as  the  8th  century 
an  almost  exclusive  ascendency  over  the  whole  of  Europe. 
Thanks  to  this  constellation,  the  Church  for  several  centuries 
became  the  guardian  of  higher  human  life,  and  so  nobly  did 
she  acquit  herself  of  this  exalted  task  that  no  religious 
hatred  or  party  prejudice  dares  question  any  longer  the 
glorious  result  she  then  achieved.  In  the  literal  sense  of 
the  word,  all  human  development  of  that  period  depended 
entirely  upon  the  church.  No  science  and  no  art  could 
prosper  unless  shielded  by  ecclesiastical  protection.  And 
hence  originated  that  specifically  Christian  art,  which,  in 
its  first  passion,  tried  to  embody  the  maximum  of  spiritual 
essence  in  the  minimum  of  form  and  tint  and  tone.  It  was  no 
art  copied  from  nature,  but  art  invoked  from  out  the  spheres 
of  heaven,  which  fettered  music  in  the  Gregorian  chains,  the 
pencil  and  chisel  of  which  longed  after  acosmic  creations, 
and  which  only  in  the  building  of  the  cathedrals  attained 
the  really  beautiful  and  reaped  imperishable  fame.  All  edu- 
cational guardianship,  meanwhile,  leads  to  its  own  dissolu- 
tion.   A  rightminded  guardian  intends  to  render  his  guard- 


CALVINISM   AND   ART.  21 


ianship  superfluous  as  soon  as  possible,  and  he  who  tries 
to  prolong  his  control,  even  after  his  ward  has  reached 
maturity,  creates  an  unnatural  relation  and  makes  his 
guardianship  itself  an  incentive  to  resistance.  When  there- 
fore the  first  education  of  Northern  Europe  was  com- 
pleted, and  the  church  still  persisted  in  swaying  her  ab- 
solute sceptre  across  the  entire  domain  of  life,  four  great 
movements  were  started  from  as  many  different  sides,  viz., 
the  Renaissance,  in  the  domain  of  art,  the  Republicanism 
of  Italy  in  politics,  Humanism  in  science,  and  lastly  and 
centrally,  in  Religion,  the  Reformation. 

No  doubt  these  four  movements  received  their  impulse 
from  very  different,  and  in  some  cases  conflicting  principles, 
but  they  all  agreed  on  this  one  point,  viz.,  that  they  must 
escape  from  ecclesiastical  tutelage,  and  create  a  life  of  their 
own  in  accordance  with  their  own  principle.  Therefore, 
it  is  not  at  all  surprising,  that,  in  the  1 6th  century,  these 
four  powers  repeatedly  acted  in  concert.  It  was  the  one 
human  life  that,  weary  of  any  further  guardianship,  hastened 
in  every  way  after  a  freer  development,  and  therefore, 
when  the  old  guardian  tried  with  tooth  and  nail  to  hold 
back  the  declaration  of  maturity,  it  was  but  natural  that 
those  four  powers  should  encourage  one  another,  fiercely 
to  resist,  nor  to  desist  before  freedom  was  obtained.  "With- 
out this  quadruple  alliance  not  only  would  the  tutelage 
of  the  church  have  persevered  over  all  Europe,  but, 
once  the  rebellion  crushed,  its  rule  would  have  become  even 
more  grievous  and  intolerable  than  beforehand.  Thanks  to 
this  cooperation,  the  bold  undertaking  was  crowned  with 
enduring  success,  and  the  combatants,  by  their  combined 
energy,  earned  the  everlasting  glory  of  having  brought  art 
and  science,  as  well  as  politics  and  Religion,  to  the  full 
enjoyment  of  maturity. 

Will  it  be  fair  on  this  ground  to  assert  that  Calvinism 
has  freed  Religion,  and  not  art,  and  that  the  honors  of 
the    emancipation    of   art   belong    exclusively    to    the  Re- 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  22 


naissance  ?  I  readily  grant  that  the  Renaissance  has  a 
right  to  claim  its  share  of  the  victory,  especially  in  so  far 
as  it  stimulated  art  herself  to  vindicate  her  liberty  by  her 
wonderful  productions.  Aesthetic  genius,  if  I  may  so  call  it, 
had  been  implanted  by  God  Himself,  in  the  Greek,  and  only  by 
hailing  again,  amid  loud  rejoicings,  the  fundamental  powers  of 
art,  which  Greek  genius  had  discovered,  could  art  justify  her 
claim  to  an  independent  existence.  This  by  itself  however 
could  not  have  achieved  the  desired  liberation.  For  the 
church  of  those  days  did  not  in  the  least  oppose  classical 
art  as  such.  On  the  contrary,  she  welcomed  the  Renaissance, 
and  Christian  art  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  enrich  her- 
self with  the  best  the  Renaissance  had  to  offer.  In  the 
so-called  Cinquecento,  or  high-Renaissance,  Bramante  and  Da 
Vinci.  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael  stored  the  splendor 
ecclesiae  with  treasures  of  art,  quite  unique  and  inimitable, 
never  to  be  surpassed.  Thus  the  old  tie  continued  to  unite 
church  and  art,  and  this  of  itself  established  a  permanent 
patronage.  The  real  liberation  of  art  required  much  more 
patent  energies.  From  principle,  the  church  was  to  be 
forced  back  to  her  spiritual  realm.  Art,  having  hitherto 
confined  herself  to  the  holy  spheres,  had  now  to  make  her 
appearance  in  the  social  world.  And  in  the  church.  Re- 
ligion had  to  put  aside  her  symbolical  robes,  in  order  that, 
after  having  ascended  to  the  higher  spiritual  level,  her 
life-giving  breath  might  animate  the  whole  world.  Just 
as  Von  Hartmann  truly  observes:  "It  is  pure  spiritual 
Religion  which  with  one  hand  deprives  the  artist  of  his 
specifically  religious  art,  but  which,  with  the  other,  offers 
him,  in  exchange,  a  whole  world,  to  be  religiously  animated." 
Now  Luther  certainly  desired  such  a  pure,  spiritual  Re- 
ligion, but  Calvinism  was  the  first  to  grasp  it.  First  under 
the  stirring  impulses  of  Calvinism,  our  fathers  broke  with 
the  splendor  ecclesiae,  i.  e.,  with  her  outward  glitter,  with 
her  vast  possessions,  by  which  art  was  financially  held  in 
bondage,  and    also    with  her  outward  exhibition  of  power, 


CALVINISM   AND   ART.  23 


which  could  not  rest  until  it  had  subjected  to  itself  even- 
expression  of  human  life.  And  although  Humanism  rebelled 
against  this  oppressive  and  unnatural  state  of  things,  it 
could  never  hope  to  effect  a  radical  change  if  left  to  its 
own  resources.  Only  think  of  Erasmus.  Triumph  in  the 
struggle  of  that  time  was  not  reserved  for.  the  man  who 
carried  on  the  strife  for  Religious  liberty  by  mere  criti- 
cism, but  only  for  him,  who,  standing  on  an  higher  stage 
of  religious  development,  overcame  the  symbolical  religion 
as  such.  And,  therefore,  we  may  boldly  assert  that  it  was 
Calvinism  who  prompted  the  spirited  impulse  by  which  the 
victory  was  won,  and,  by  its  indefatigable  perseverance,  has 
put  au  end  to  the  unjustified  tutelage  of  the  church  over 
all  human  life,  art  included. 

Meanwhile  I  readily  grant  that  this  outcome  would  have 
been  purely  accidental,  if  Calvinism  had  not,  at  the  same 
time,  led  to  a  deeper  interpretation  of  human  life  and 
human  art.  When,  under  Victor  Emmanuel,  with  the  help 
of  Garibaldi,  Italy  was  made  free,  the  day  of  liberty  also 
dawned  for  the  Waldenses,  in  Middle  and  Southern  Italy, 
but  neither  the  Be  galantuomo,  nor  Garibaldi,  had  even 
thought  of  the  Waldensians.  Thus  it  were  possible  that 
in  its  struggle  for  human  liberty  Calvinism  also  cut  the 
tie  that  thus  far  held  art  a  captive,  but  without  having 
in  the  least  intended  to  do  this,  by  virtue  of  its  prin- 
ciple. And  therefore  I  must  still  illustrate  the  second 
factor,  which  alone  decides  the  case.  I  have  already,  more  than 
once,  called  your  attention  to  the  important  significance  of  the 
Calvinistic  doctrine  of ''common  grace,"  and  in  this  lecture  on 
art.  I  must  refer  to  it  again.  That  which  is  to  be  ecclesiastical 
must  bear  the  stamp  of  faith,  therefore  Christian  art  can  only 
go  out  from  believers.  If  therefore  I  only  recognise  as 
a  real,  true  art  the  so-called  Christain  art,  I  thereby  claim 
that  the  exalted  gift  of  art  is  only  the  portion  of  believers. 
Calvinism,  on  the  contrary,  has  taught  us  that  all  liberal 
arts    are    gifts    which    God    imparts  promiscuously    to   be- 


CALVINISM    AXI>    ART.  24 


lievers  and  to  unbelievers,  yea,  that,  as  history  shows, 
these  gifts  have  flourished  even  in  a  larger  measure 
outside  the  holy  circle.  '"These  radiations  of  Divine 
Light,"  he  wrote,  "shone  more  brilliantly  among  unbeliev- 
ing people  than  among  God's  saints."  And  this  of  course 
quite  reverses  the  proposed  order  of  things.  If  you  limit 
the  higher  enjoyment  of  art  to  regeneration,  then  this 
gift  is  exclusively  the  portion  of  believers,  and  must  bear 
an  ecclesiastical  character.  In  that  case  it  is  the  outcome 
of  particular  grace.  But  if,  at  the  hand  of  experience  and 
history,  you  become  persuaded  that  the  highest  art-instincts 
are  natural  gifts,  and  hence  belong  to  those  excellent  graces 
which,  in  spite  of  sin,  by  virtue  of  common  (/race,  have 
continued  to  shine  in  human  nature,  it  plainly  follows  that 
art  can  inspire  both  believers  and  unbelievers,  and  that  God 
remains  Sovereign  to  impart  it,  in  His  good  pleasure,  alike 
to  Heathen  and  to  Christian  nations.  This  applies  not 
only  to  art,  but  to  all  the  natural  utterances  of  human 
life,  and  is  illustrated  by  the  comparison  in  early  times 
between  Israel  and  the  other  nations.  As  far  as  holy 
things  are  concerned,  Israel  is  chosen,  and  is  not  only 
blessed  above  all  nations,  but  stands  among  all  nations, 
isolated.  In  the  question  of  Religion,  Israel  has  not  only  a 
larger  share,  but  Israel  alone  has  the  truth,  and  all  the 
other  nations,  even  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  are  bent 
beneath  the  yoke  of  falsehood.  Christ  is  not  partly  of 
Israel  and  partly  of  the  nations  ;  He  is  of  Israel  alone.  Salva- 
tion is  of  the  •lews.  But  just  in  proportion  as  Israel  shines 
forth  from  within  the  domain  of  Religion,  so  is  it  equally 
backward  when  you  compare  the  development  of  its  art, 
science,  politics,  commerce  and  trade  to  that  of  the  sur- 
rounding nations.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  building  of  the 
Temple  required  the  coming  of  Hiram  from  a  heathen 
country  to  Jerusalem.  And  Solomon,  in  whom,  after  all, 
was  found  the  Wisdom  of  God,  not  only  knows  that  Israel 
stands  behind  in  architecture  and  needs  help  from  without, 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  25 


but  by  his  action  be  publicly  shows  that  he,  as  the  king 
of  the  Jews  is  in  no  way  ashamed  of  Hiram's  corning,  which 
he  lealizes  as  a  natural  ordinance  of  God. 

So,  Calvinism,  on  the  ground  both  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  history,  has  arrived  at  the  confession,  that,  wherever 
the  Sanctuary  discloses  itself,  all  unbelieving  nations  stand 
outside,  but  that  nevertheless,  in  their  secular  history,  they 
are  called  by  God  to  a  special  vocation,  and  form,  by  their 
very  existence,  an  indispensable  link  in  the  long  chain  of 
phenomena.  Every  utterance  of  human  life  requires  a 
special  disposition  in  blood  and  in  descent,  and  proper 
adaptations  of  lot  and  incident  as  well  as  of  natural  environ- 
ment and  climatic  effects  are  to  contribute  to  its  develop- 
ment. In  Israel  all  this  was  adapted  to  the  holy  heritage 
which  it  was  to  receive  in  the  Divine  Revelation.  But 
if  Israel  was  chosen  for  the  sake  of  Religion,  this  in  no 
way  prevented  a  parallel  election  of  the  Greeks  for  the 
domain  of  philosophy  and  for  the  revelations  of  art,  nor  of 
the  Romans,  for  the  classical  development  within  the  domain 
of  Law  and  of  State.  The  life  of  art  also  has  both  its 
provisional  development,  and  its  later  unfoldings,  but  in 
order  to  insure  a  more  vigorous  growth  it  wanted  first  of 
all  clear  self  consciousness  in  its  centrum  that  once  for 
all  the  unchangeable  foundation-  of  its  ideal  existence  might 
be  brought  to  light.  Such  a  phenomenon  as  art,  arrives  at 
this  self-revelation  once  only,  and  that  revelation  once 
granted,  remains  classical,  tone-giving  and  forever  domi- 
nant. And  although  a  further  art-development  may  seek 
newer  forms  and  richer  material,  the  nature  of  the  original 
find  remains  the  same.  Thus  Calvinism  was  not  only  able, 
but  bound  to  confess,  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  Greeks 
were  the  primordial  nation  of  art;  that  owing  to  this 
classical  Greek  development,  art  conquered  its  rights  of 
independent  existence;  and  that  although  it  certainly  ought 
to  radiate  also  in  the  sphere  of  Religion,  it  should  in  nowise 
be   engrafted    in  a  dependent  sense  upon  the  ecclesiastical 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  26 


tree,  or,  if  you  like,  upon  the  tree  of  faith.  Therefore,  being 
a  return  of  art  to  her  rediscovered  fundamental  lines,  the 
Renaissance  did  not  present  itself  to  Calvinism  as  a  sinful 
effort,  but  as  a  divinely  ordered  movement.  And  as  such 
Calvinism  encouraged  the  Renaissance  not  by  pure  accident, 
but  with  clear  consciousness  and  definite  purpose,  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  deepest  principle. 

Hence  there  is  no  question  that,  simply  as  an  involuntary 
result  of  its  opposition  to  the  Hierarchy  of  Rome,  Calvinism 
should  at  the  same  time  have  encouraged  the  emancipation 
of  art.  On  the  contrary,  it  demanded  this  liberation  and 
was  bound  to  effect  it,  within  its  own  circle,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  its  world-  and  life-view.  The  world  after  the 
fall  is  no  lost  planet,  only  destined  now  to  afford  the 
church  a  place  in  which  to  continue  her  combats,  and 
humanity  is  no  aimless  mass  of  people  which  only  serves 
the  purpose  of  giving  birth  to  the  elect.  On  the  contrary 
the  world  now,  as  well  as  in  the  beginning,  is  the  theatre 
for  the  mighty  works  of  God,  and  humanity  remains  a 
creation  of  His  hand,  which,  apart  from  salvation  and  from 
what  the  future  may  bring,  completes  under  this  present 
dispensation,  here  on  earth,  a  mighty  process,  and  in  its 
historical  development  is  to  glorify  the  name  of  Almighty 
God.  To  this  end  He  has  ordained  for  this  humanity  all 
sorts  of  life-utterances,  and'  among  these,  art  occupies 
a  quite  independent  place.  Art  reveals  ordinances  of  creation 
which  neither  science,  nor  politics,  nor  religious  life,  nor 
even  revelation  can  bring  to  light.  She  is  a  plant  that 
grows  and  blossoms  upon  her  own  root,  and  without 
denying  that  this  plant  may  have  required  the  help  of  a 
temporary  support,  and  that  in  early  times  the  church 
lent  this  prop  in  a  very  excellent  way,  yet  the  Calvinistic 
principle  demanded  that  this  plant  of  art  should  at  length 
acquire  strength  to  stand  alone  and  vigorously  to  extend 
its  branches  in  every  direction.  And  thus  Calvinism  con- 
fessed   that,    the    Greeks    having   first   discovered  the  laws 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  27 


by  which  the  existence  and  the  growth  of  this  art-plant  are 
governed,  therefore  remain  entitled  to  bind  every  further 
growth  and  every  new  impulse  of  art  to  their  first,  their 
classical  development.  Not  for  the  sake  of  stopping  short 
with  Greece,  or  of  adopting  her  Paganistic  form  without 
criticism.  Art,  like  Science,  cannot  afford  to  tarry  at 
her  origin,  but  must  ever  develop  herself  more  richly, 
at  the  same  time  purging  herself  of  whatsoever  had 
been  falsely  intermingled  with  the  earlier  plant.  Only,  the 
law  of  her  growth  and  life,  once  discovered,  must  remain 
the  fundamental  law  of  art  for  ever;  a  law,  not  imposed 
upon  her  from  without,  but  sprung  from  her  own  nature. 
And  so,  by  loosening  every  unnatural,  and  cleaving  to 
her  natural  ties,  art  must  find  the  inward  strength  required 
for  the  maintenance  of  her  liberty.  Calvin  therefore  does 
not  estrange  art,  science,  and  Religion,  from  one  another; 
on  the  contrary,  what  he  desires  is  that  all  human  life  shall 
be  permeated  by  these  three  vital  powers  together.  There 
must  be  a  science  which  will  not  rest  until  it  has  thought 
out  the  entire  cosmos ;  a  religion  which  cannot  sit  still 
until  she  has  permeated  every  sphere  of  human  life ;  and 
so  also  there  must  be  an  Art  which,  despising  no  single 
department  of  life,  adopts,  into  her  splendid  world,  the 
whole  of  human  life,  Religion  included. 


Let  this  suggestion  of  the  wide  extension  of  the  domain 
of  art  introduce  my  last  point,  viz.,  that  Calvinism  has  also 
act dully  and  In  a  concrete  sense  ad  a  meet]  the  development  of 
the  arts.  It  scarcely  needs  a  reminder  that  in  the  realm 
of  art  Calvinism  was  not  able  to  play  the  role  of  a  Sor- 
cerer, and  could  only  work  with  natural  data.  That 
the  Italian  has  a  more  tuneful  voice  than  the  Scot,  and 
that  the  German  is  carried  away  by  a  more  passionate 
impulse  of  song  than  the  Netherlander,  are  simple  data 
with  which  art  had  to  reckon,  under  Roman  supremacy,  as 


CALVINISM   AND   AET.  2S 


well  as  under  that  of  Calvinism.  An  undeniable  fact, 
which  explains  why  it  is  neither  logical  nor  honest  to 
reproach  Calvinism  for  that  which  is  merely  due  to  the 
differences  of  national  character.  The  truth  is  equally  plain 
that,  in  the  Northern  countries  of  Europe,  Calvinism  was 
not  able  to  produce,  as  by  magic,  marble,  porphyry  or  free- 
stone, from  the  ground,  and  that  therefore  the  arts  of 
sculpture  and  architecture,  which  require  rich,  natural 
stone,  were  more  readily  developed  in  those  countries 
where  quarries  abound,  than  in  a  country  such  as  the 
Netherlands,  where  the  ground  consists  of  clay  and  mire. 
Poetry,  music,  and  painting,  therefore,  can  alone  be  consid- 
ered here,  as  the  three  free  arts  that  are  most  independent 
of  all  natural  data.  This  does  not  imply  that  the  Flemish 
and  Dutch  city -hall  fails  to  hold  a  position  of  honor  all 
its  own  among  the  creations  of  architecture.  Louvain  and 
Middleburg,  Antwerp  and  Amsterdam  still  bear  witness  to 
what  Dutch  art  wrought  in  stone.  And  he  who  has  seen 
the  statues  in  Antwerp  and  at  the  tomb  of  William  the 
Silent,  carved  by  Quellinus  and  by  De  Keyzers,  does  not 
question  the  ability  of  our  artists  of  the  chisel.  But  this  is 
subject  to  the  objection  that  the  style  of  our  City-Hall  was 
found  long  before  Calvinism  made  its  appearance  in  the 
Netherlands,  and  that,  even  in  its  later  development,  it 
exhibits  no  single  feature  that  can  remind  one  of  Calvinism. 
By  virtue  of  its  principle  Calvinism  built  no  cathedrals,  no 
palaces  and  no  amphitheatres  and  was  unable  to  erect 
mighty  piles  of  architecture,  and  equally  unable  to  populate 
the  vacant  niches  of  these  gigantic  buildingsWvith  sculptured 
ornaments. 

Indeed,  the  merits  of  Calvinism,  with  respect  to  art,  are 
to  be  found  elsewhere.  Not  in  the  objective,  but  exclusively 
in  the  more  subjective  arts  which,  not  depending  upon  the 
patronage  of  wealth  and  not  in  want  of  the  marble  quarry, 
have  their  spontaneous  rise  in  the  human  mind.  Of  poetry 
I  make  no  mention,  in  this  connection.  The  narrow  bounds 


CALVKIS1I   AND   ART.  29 


within  which  our  language  is  confined,  have  excluded  our 
poetry  from  the  world  at  large,  and  whatever  excellent 
schools  of  poets  may  have  flourished  among  us,  their 
influence  necessarily  remained  confined  to  the  Nether- 
lands, and,  therefore,  they  were  not  ahle  to  affect  poetry 
as  a  world-phenomenon.  This  privilege  is  only  reserved  for 
those  larger  nations,  whose  language,  being  spoken  by  millions 
and  millions,  therefore  becomes  a  vehicle  for  international 
intercourse.  But  if  the  province  of  language  for  smaller 
nations  is  limited,  the  ege  is  international,  and  music  heard 
by  the  ear  is  understood  in  eveiy  heart.  In  order,  therefore, 
that  we  may  trace  the  influence  of  Calvinism  upon  the 
development  and  the  welfare  of  art,  we  must  limit  our- 
selves, in  the  international  sense,  to  the  two  subjective 
and  independent  arts,  those  of  painting  and  music. 

Now  of  both  these  arts  it  is  to  be  stated  that,  before 
the  days  of  Calvinism,  they  soared  high  above  the  common 
life  of  the  Nations,  and  that  only  under  the  <  'alvinistic 
influence  did  the}'  descend  to  the  so  much  richer  life  of 
the  people.  As  regards  painting,  just  recall  the  productions 
of  Dutch  art  by  brush  and  etching-needle  in  the  16th  and 
17th  centuries.  Rembrandt's  name  alone  is  here  sufficient 
to  invoke  a  whole  world  of  art-treasures  to  rise  before 
your  mind's  eye.  The  museums  of  every  country  and 
continent  still  vie  with  each  other,  to  the  utmost,  in  their 
efforts  to  obtain  some  specimen  of  his  work.  Even  a 
broker  has  respect  for  an  art-school  whose  returns  represent 
so  vast  a  capital.  And  even  in  our  days  the  masters  all 
over  the  world  are  still  borrowing  their  most  effectual 
motives  and  their  best  art-tendencies  from  what,  at  that 
time,  demanded  the  world's  admiration  as  an  entirely  new 
school  of  painting.  Of  course  this  does  not  say  that  all 
these  painters  were  personally  staunch  Calvinists.  In  the 
earlier  art-school,  which  flourished  under  the  influence 
of  Rome  the  "bon  Catholiques"  were  also  very  rare. 
Such    influences    do   not   operate   personally,  but  put  their 


CALVINISM   AND    ART.  SO 


impress  upon  surroundings  and  society,  upon  the  world 
of  perceptions,  of  representations  and  of  thought,  and 
as  a  result  of  these  various  impressions  an  art-school  makes 
its  appearance.  And,  taken  in  this  sense,  the  antithesis 
between  the  past  and  the  present  in  the  school  of  Dutch 
art  is  unmistakable.  Before  this  period,  no  account  was 
taken  of  the  people,  they  only  were  considered  worthy  of 
notice  who  were  superior  to  the  common  man,  vis.,  the  high 
world  of  the  church  and  of  the  priests,  of  knights  and  princes. 
But,  since  then,  the  people  had  come  of  age,  and  under 
the  auspices  of  Calvinism,  the  art  of  painting,  prophetic  of 
a  democratic  life  of  later  times,  was  the  first  to  proclaim 
the  people's  maturity.  The  family  ceased  to  be  an  annex 
to  the  church,  and  asserted  its  standing  in  its  independent 
significance.  By  the  light  of  common  grace  it  was  seen 
that  the  non-churchly  life  wTas  also  possessed  of  high 
importance  and  of  an  all  sided  art-motive.  Having  been 
overshadowed  for  many  centuries  by  class-distinctions,  the 
common  life  of  man  came  out  of  its  hiding-place  like  a 
new  world,  in  all  its  sober  reality.  It  was  the  broad 
emancipation  of  our  ordinary  earthly  life,  and  the  instinct 
for  liberty,  which  thereby  captured  the  heart  of  the  nations 
and  inspired  them  with  delight  in  the  enjoyment  of 
treasures  so  long  blindly  neglected.  Even  Taine  has  sounded 
the  praises  of  the  blessing,  which  went  forth  from  the 
Calvinistic  love  of  liberty  to  the  realm  of  art,  and  Carriere, 
who  himself  was  equally  far  from  sympathizing  with  Calvinism, 
loudly  proclaims  that  Calvinism  alone  was  able  to  plow  the 
field  on  which  free  art  could  flourish. — It  has  frequently 
been  remarked,  moreover,  that  the  idea  of  election  by  free 
giace  has  contributed  not  a  little  toward  interesting  art  in 
the  hidden  importance  of  what  was  seemingly  small  and 
insignificant.  If  a  common  man,  to  whom  the  world  pays  no 
special  attention,  is  valued  and  even  chosen  by  God  as  one 
of  His  elect,  this  must  lead  the  artist  also  to  find  a  motive 
for    his   artistic   studies  in  what  is  common  and  of  every- 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  31 


day   occurrence,  to  pay  attention  to  the  emotions  and  the 
issues  of  the  human  heart  in  it.  to  grasp,  with  his  artistic 
instinct,    their    ideal    impulse,  and.  lastly,  by  his  pencil  to 
interpret   for  the  world  at  large  the  precious  discovery  he 
has  made.     Even  foolish  and  drastic  extravagances  became 
the  motive  for  art-productions,  merely  as  revelations  of  the 
human    heart    and    as    manifestations  of  human  life.     Man 
was    also    to   be    shown    the   image   of   his    folly,  that  he 
might  depart  from  evil.  Thus  far  the  artist  had  only  traced 
upon    his    canvass    the    idealized    figures    of  prophets   and 
apostles,  of  saints  and  priests,  now  however,  when  he  saw 
how    God   had    chosen  the  porter  and  the  wage-earner  for 
Himself,  he  found  interest  not  only  in  the  head,  the  figure 
and   the    entire  personality  of  the  man  of  the  people,  but 
began    to   reproduce    the    human  expression  of  every  rank 
and  station.  And  if  thus  far  the  eyes  of  all  had  been  fixed 
constantly    and    solely    upon  the  sufferings  of  the  ''Man  of 
sorrows**,    some   now  began  to  understand,  that  there  was 
a  mystical  suffering  also  in  the  general  woe  of  man,  revealing 
hitherto  unmeasured  depths  of  the  human  heart,  and  thereby 
enabling  us  to  fathom  much  better  the  still  deeper  depths 
of  the  mysterious  agonies  of  Golgotha.  Ecclesiastical  power 
no  longer  restrained  the  artist,  and  no  princely  gold  chained 
him  in  its  fetters.  If  artist,  he  also  was  man,  mingling  freely 
among  the  people,  and  discovering  in  and  behind  their  human 
life,  something  quite  different  from  what  palace  and  castle 
had    hitherto    afforded  him,  and  which  proved  to  be  much 
more    valuable   than   the   keenest   eye   had   ever  surmised. 
As    Taine    so  significantly  says:  to  Rembrandt,  human  life 
hid    its    face    behind  many  sombre  hues,  but  even  in  that 
chiaroscuro    his   grasp    upon    that  life  was  profoundly  real 
and  significant.     As  the  result  therefore  of  the  declaration 
of  the  people's  maturity  and  of  the  love  of  liberty  which 
Calvinism  awakened  in  the  heart  of  the  nations,  the  com- 
mon but  rich  human  life  disclosed  to  art  an  entirely  new 
world,    and,    by    opening    the    eye    for    the   small  and  the 


CALVINISM    AND   ART.  32 


insignificant,  and  by  opening  the  heart  for  the  sorrows  of 
mankind,  from  the  rich  content  of  this  newly  discovered 
world,  the  Dutch  school  of  art  has  produced  upon  the 
canvass  those  wondrous  art-productions  which  still  immor- 
talize its  fame,  and  which  have  shown  the  way  to  all  the 
nations  for  new  conquests  in  its  wake. 

Finally,  as  to  the  significance  Calvinism  had  for  Music,  we 
face  one  of  its  excellencies  which,  though  less  widely  known, 
is,  notwithstanding,  highly  important ;  as  Mr.  Douen  taught 
us,  ten  years  ago,  in  his  two  big  volumes  on  Marot,  Music 
and  painting  here  run  parallel.  Even  as  in  the  ecclesiastical- 
aristocratic  period  it  was  only  the  high  and  the  holy 
that  interested  the  masters  of  the  pencil,  so  in  music 
the  plain  chant  of  Gregory  was  dominant,  which  abandoned 
rhythm,  despised  harmony,  and  which  according  to  a  profes- 
sional critic,  by  its  provisionally  conservative  character 
barred  the  way  to  the  further  artistic  development  of 
music.  Far  below  the  level  of  this  stately  chant  flowed  the 
freer  song  of  the  people,  too  often,  alas,  inspired  by 
the  worship  of  Venus,  and  which  at  the  times  of  the 
so  called  "donkey-festivals",  much  to  the  chagrin  of  eccle- 
siastical officials,  penetrated  even  the  walls  of  the  churches, 
and  there  occasioned  those  repulsive  scenes  which  the 
Council  of  Trent  first  succeeded  in  putting  under  the 
ban.  The  church  alone  was  privileged  to  make  music, 
while  that  which  the  people  produced  was  scorned,  as 
being  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  art.  Even  in  the 
oratory  itself,  while  the  people  were  allowed  to  listen  to 
the  holy  music,  they  were  forbidden  to  join  in  the  song. 
Thus,  as  an  art,  music  was  almost  entirely  deprived  of  its 
independent  standing.  Only  in  so  far  as  it  could  serve 
the  church  was  it  permitted  to  flourish  artistically.  What- 
ever it  undertook  on  its  own  responsibility,  had  no  higher 
call  than  the  popular  use.  And  as  in  every  department 
of  life,  Protestantism  in  general,  but  Calvinism  more  con- 
sistently,   bridled    the   tutelage  of  the  church,  so  also  was 


CALVINISM    AND    ART.  33 


music  emancipated  by  it,  and  the  way  opened  to  its  so 
splendid  modern  development.  The  men  who  first  arranged 
the  music  of  the  Psalms  for  the  Calvinistic  singing  were  the 
brave  heroes  who  cut  the  strands  that  bound  us  to  the  Cantus 
firmus,  and  selected  their  melodies  from  the  free  world  of 
music.  To  be  sure,  by  doing  this,  they  adopted  the  people's 
melodies,  but  as  Douen  rightly  remarks,  only  in  order  that 
they  might  return  these  melodies  to  the  people  purified 
and  baptized  in  Christian  seriousness.  Music  also  would 
flourish,  henceforth,  not  within  the  narrow  limitations  of 
particular  grace,  but  in  the  wide  and  fertile  fields  of 
common  grace.  The  choir  was  abandoned  ;  in  the  sanctuary 
the  people  themselves  would  sing,  and  therefore  Bourgeois 
aud  the  Calvinistic  virtuosi  who  followed  him,  were 
bound  to  make  their  selections  from  the  popular  melodies, 
but  with  this  end  in  view,  viz.,  that  now  the  people  would 
no  longer  sing  in  the  saloon  or  in  the  street,  but  in  the 
sanctuary,  and  thus,  in  their  melodies,  cause  the  seriousness  of 
the  heart  to  triumph  over  the  heat  of  the  lower  passions. 
If  this  is  the  general  merit  of  Calvinism,  or  rather  the 
change  which  it  effected  in  the  domain  of  music,  by  forcing 
the  idea  of  the  laity  to  give  room  to  that  of  the  general 
priesthood  of  believers,  historic  accuracy  requires  a  still 
more  concrete  elucidation.  If  Bourgeois  was  the  great 
master  whose  works  still  assure  him  a  front  rank  among 
the  most  notable  composers  of  Protestant  Europe, 
it  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  this  Bourgeois  lived  and 
labored  in  Geneva,  under  the  very  eyes  of  Calvin  and 
even  partly  under  his  direction.  It  was  this  same  Bourgeois 
who  had  the  courage  to  adopt  rhythm  and  to  exchange 
the  eight  Gregorian  modes  for  the  two  of  major  and  minor 
from  the  popular  music;  to  sanctify  its  art  in  consecrated 
hymn,  and  so  to  put  the  impress  of  honor  upon  that 
musical  arrangement  of  tunes,  from  which  all  modern 
music  had  its  rise.  In  the  same  way  Bourgeois  adopted 
the  harmony  or  the  song  of  several  parts.  He  was  the  man 


CALVINISM   AMD   ART.  34 


who  wedded  melody  to  verse  by  expression.  The  solfeggio, 
i.e.  the  singing  by  note,  the  reduction  of  the  number  of 
chords,  the  clearer  distinction  of  the  several  gamuts,  etc., 
by  which  the  knowledge  of  music  was  so  much  simplified, 
is  all  owing  to  the  perseverance  of  this  Calvinistic  Composer. 
And  when  Goudimel,  his  Calvinistic  colleague,  the  teacher  of 
the  great  Palestrine,  once  at  Rome  listening  to  the 
singing  of  the  people  in  the  church,  discovered  that  the 
higher  voices  of  the  children  outstripped  the  tenor,  which 
had  thus  far  held  the  lead,  he  for  the  first  time  gave  the 
leading  part  to  the  soprano;  a  change  of  far-reaching 
influence  which  has  ever  since  been  maintained. 

Pardon    me    if  for  a  moment  I  detained  you  with  these 
particulars,  but  the  merits  of  Protestantism,  and  more  par- 
ticularly   of   Calvinism,  in   music  are  of  too  high  an  order 
to   suffer    longer    depreciation  without  protest.     I  fully  ac- 
knowledge that  Calvinism  exercised  over  some  arts  only  an 
indirect  influence,  by  the  declaration  of  their  maturity,  and 
by    affording    them    liberty    to  flourish  in   their  own  inde- 
pendence of  character,  but  on  music,  the  influence  of  Calvinism 
was    a    very    positive    one,  due  to  its  spiritual  worship  of 
God,   which  provided  no  room  lor  the  more  material  arts. 
but  assigned  a  new  role  to  song  and  to  music  by  the  creation 
of  melodies  and  songs  for  the  people.  Whatever  the  old  school 
did  to  join  itself  to  the  newer  development  of  music,  the  mo- 
dern music  remained  unnatural  to  the  cantus  firmus,  because 
it    sprang   from    a    quite   different   root.  Calvinism  on  the 
other  hand  not  only  joined  itself  to  it,  but  under  the  leader- 
ship   of  Bourgeois  and  Goudimel  gave  it  its  first  impulse, 
so    that    even    Roman    Catholic  writers  are  constrained  to 
acknowledge,    that    this  beautiful  development  of  music  in 
the  last  and  present  centuries  for  the  most  part  owed  its 
rise     to    the    heretical    church-hymns.     That   in    the   later 
period    Calvinism  lost  almost  all  influence  in  this  domain, 
cannot    be   denied.     For    a    long   time    Anabaptism    over- 
whelmed us  with  its  dualistic  prejudices,  and  an  unhealthy 


CALVINISM    AND    AET.  35 


spiritualism  prevailed.  But  when  on  that  account,  with 
entire  disregard  of  our  great  musical  past,  Calvinism 
is  accused  by  Rome  of  aesthetic  dullness,  it  is  well  to 
call  to  mind  that  the  great  Goudimel  was  murdered  by 
Romish  fanaticism  in  the  massacre  of  S.  Bartholomew.  A  fact 
which  not  unnaturally  suggests  the  question,  whether  he  has 
not  forfeited  all  right  of  complaint  about  the  stillness  of 
the  forest,  who  with  his  own  hand  has  caught  and  killed 
the  nightingale. 


'\yVMtter  '/t> 


SIXTH   LECTURE. 


CALVINISM  AND  THE  FUTURE. 

I  am  approaching  the  end  of  my  task.  The  goal  comes 
in  sight.  This  is  my  final  lecture.  In  the  first  lecture  I  un- 
wound Calvinism  from  the  petty  tangles  of  confessional 
narrow-mindedness  and  raised  it  to  the  high  rank  of 
an  independent  system,  embodying  a  specific  principle, 
and  yielding  a  comprehensive  life-  and  world-view  all 
its  own,  such  as  in  point  of  historical  significance  may 
be  placed  on  a  line  with  the  comprehensive  systems 
of  Paganism,  Islamism  and  Romanism,  whilst  in  profound- 
ness of  conception,  correctness  of  structure  and  stage  of 
development  it  surpasses  them  all.  Next  I  pointed  out 
how  the  principle  of  this  vast  system  lies  in  the  absoluteness 
of  its  religious-ethical  standpoint.  Further  I  traced  for  you 
the  three  lines  along  which  Calvinism  has  given  direction 
to  the  life  of  humanity  in  the  spheres  of  politics,  science 
and  art.  Of  course,  much  might  have  been  added  to  this, 
had  it  been  our  aim  to  trace  the  same  influence  in  other 
departments  of  life.  Since,  however,  the  lack  of  time  forbids 
this  and  I  have  already  claimed  more  of  your  attention 
than  a  stranger  should  ask,  I  proceed  without  further  delay 
to  answer  our  final  question:  What  is  the  significance  of 
Calvinism  for  the  future? 

The  prospect  on  the  horizon  does  not  present  itself  to  us 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE. 


in  bright  colors.  I  would  not  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that 
we  are  on  the  eve  of  universal  social  bankruptcy,  but  that 
the  signs  of  the  times  are  ominous  admits  of  no  denial.  To  be 
sure,  in  the  control  of  nature  and  her  forces,  immense  gains 
are  being  registered  year  by  year,  and  the  boldest  imagina- 
tion is  unable  to  foretell  to  what  heights  of  power  in  this 
respect  the  race  may  attain  in  the  next  half  century.  As  a 
result  of  this  the  comforts  of  life  are  increasing.  World- 
intercourse  and  communication  are  constantly  becoming  more 
rapid  and  widespread.  Asia  and  Africa,  until  recently  dormant, 
gradually  feel  themselves  drawn  into  the  larger  circle  of  stir- 
ring life.  Aided  by  sport,  the  principles  of  hygiene  exert  a 
growing  influence.  Consequently,  we  are  physically  stronger 
than  the  preceding  generation.  We  live  longer.  And  in 
combating  the  defects  and  infirmities  that  threaten  and  afflict 
our  bodily  life,  surgical  science  makes  us  marvel  at  her  achieve- 
ments. In  brief,  the  material,  tangible  side  of  life  holds  out 
the  fairest  of  promises  for  the  future. 

And  yet  discontent  makes  itself  heard  and  the  thinking 
mind  cannot  suppress  its  misgivings,  for,  however  high  one 
may  value  the  material  things,  they  do  not  fill  out  the  round 
of  our  existence  as  men.  A  psalm  of  praise  may  rise  from  the 
workman's  humble  cottage,  whilst  the  millionaire  in  his 
palace  succumbs  to  a  deadly  ennui  and  even  contemplates 
suicide.  Our  personal  life  as  men  and  citizens  subsists  not 
in  the  comforts  that  surround  us,  nor  in  the  body,  which 
serves  us  as  a  link  with  the  outward  world,  but  in  the 
spirit  that  internally  actuates  us  ;  and  in  this  inner  conscious- 
ness we  are  becoming  more  and  more  painfully  aware,  that 
the  hypertrophy  of  our  external  life  results  in  a  serious 
atrophy  of  the  spiritual.  Not  as  if  the  faculties  of  thought  and 
reflection,  the  arts  of  poetry  and  letters,  were  in  abeyance. 
On  the  contrary,  empirical  science  is  more  brilliant  in  her 
attainments  than  ever,  universal  knowledge  spreads  in  con- 
stantly widening  circles,  and  civilization,  in  Japan,  for  in- 
stance, is  almost  dazzled  by  her  too-rapid  conquests.  But  even 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE. 


the  intellect  does  not  constitute  the  mind.  Personality  is 
seated  more  deeply  in  the  hidden  recesses  of  our  inner  being, 
where  character  is  formed,  whence  the  flame  of  enthusiasm  is 
kindled,  where  the  moral  foundations  are  laid,  where  love's 
bud  blossoms,  whence  spring  consecration  and  heroism,  and 
where  in  the  sense  for  the  Infinite,  our  time-bound  existence 
reaches  out  unto  the  very  gates  of  eternity.  It  is  in  regard  to 
this  seat  of  personality  that  we  hear  on  all  sides  the  com- 
plaint of  empoverishment,  degeneracy  and  petrifaction.  The 
prevalence  of  this  state  of  malaise  explains  the  rise  of  a  spirit 
like  "Von  Schopenhauer's  and  the  wide  acceptance  of  his  pessi- 
mistic doctrine  reveals  to  what  a  deplorable  extent  this  fatal 
Sirocco  has  scorched  the  fields  of  life.  It  is  true,  Tolstoi's 
efforts  show  force  of  character,  but  even  his  religious  and 
social  theory  is  a  protest  along  the  whole  line  against  the 
spiritual  degeneracy  of  our  race.  Von  Nietzsche  may  give  us 
offense  by  his  sacrilegious  mockery  of  Christ  and  his  contempt 
for  the  weak  and  suffering,  still  what  else  is  his  demand  for 
the  "  Ubermensch  "  but  the  cry  of  despair  wrung  from  the  heart 
of  humanity  by  the  bitter  consciousness  that  it  is  spiritually 
pining  away.  What  is  social-democracy  also  but  a  gigantic- 
protest  against  the  insufficiency  of  the  existing  order  of  things. 
Even  Anarchism  and  Nihilism  but  too  plainly  demonstrate 
that  there  are  thousands  upon  ten  thousands  who  would  rather 
demolish  and  annihilate  everything  than  continue  to  bear  the 
burden  of  present  conditions.  The  German  author  of  the 
"Decade//-  der  Volker"  descries  nothing  in  the  future  but 
decay  and  social  ruin.  Even  the  sober-minded  Lord  Salisbury 
recently  spoke  of  peoples  and  states  for  whose  unceremonious 
burial  preparations  were  already  being  made.  How  often  has 
not  the  parallel  been  drawn  between  our  time  and  the  golden 
age  of  the  Roman  empire,  when  the  external  brilliancy  of  life 
likewise  dazzled  the  eye,  notwithstanding  that  the  social 
diagnosis  could  yield  no  other  verdict  than  "  rotten  to  the 
very  core".  And,  although  on  this  continent,  in  a  younger 
world,   a   relatively   healthier  tone  of  life  prevails  than  in 


CALVINISM   AXD    THE   FUTURE. 


senescent  Europe,  yet  this  will  not  for  a  moment  mislead 
the  thinking  mind.  It  is  impossible  for  you  to  shut  your- 
selves off  hermetically  from  the  old  world,  as  you  form  no 
humanity  apart,  but  are  a  member  of  the  great  body  of  the 
race.  The  poison  having  once  entered  the  system  at  a  single 
point  in  due  time  must  necessarily  pervade  the  whole  organism. 


Now  the  serious  question  with  which  we  are  confronted  is 
whether  we  can  expect  that  by  natural  evolution  a  higher 
phase  of  social  life  will  develop  out  of  the  present  spiritual 
decline.  The  answer  history  supplies  to  this  question  is 
far  from  encouraging.  In  India,  in  Babylon,  in  Egypt,  in 
Persia,  in  China  and  elsewhere,  like  periods  of  vigorous  growth 
have  been  succeeded  by  times  of  spiritual  decadence;  and 
yet  in  not  one  of  these  lands  has  the  downward  course 
finally  resolved  itself  in  the  movement  towards  higher  things. 
All  these  nations  to  this  day  have  continued  in  their 
spiritual  stagnation.  In  the  Roman  empire  alone  has  the 
dark  night  of  boundless  demoralisation  been  broken  by  the 
dawn  of  a  higher  life.  But  this  light  did  not  arise  through 
evolution ;  it  shone  from  the  cross  of  Calvary.  The  Christ 
of  God  had  appeared  and  by  his  gospel  alone  was  the  world 
of  that  time  saved  from  certain  destruction.  And  again,  when 
towards  the  close  of  the  middle  ages  Europe  was  threatened 
with  social  bankruptcy,  a  second  resurrection  from  the 
dead  and  a  manifestation  of  new  vital  power  were  witnessed, 
now  among  the  peoples  of  the  Reformation,  but  this  time 
also  not  by  way  of  evolution,  but  again  through  the  same 
gospel  for  which  the  hearts  were  thirsting  and  whose  truth 
was  freely  proclaimed  as  never  before.  What  antecedents 
then  does  history  furnish  to  lead  us  to  expect  in  the  present 
instance  an  evolution  of  life  from  death,  whilst  the  symptoms 
of  decomposition  already  suggest  the  bitterness  of  the  grave? 
Mohammed,  it  is  true,  in  the  seventh  century  succeeded  in 
creating  a  stir  among  the  dead  bones  throughout  the  entire 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTDHE. 


Levant  by  throwing  himself  upon  the  nations  as  a  second 
Messiah,   greater   even   than  the  Christ.     And  assuredly  if 
the  coming  of  another  Christ,  surpassing  in  glory  the  Christ  of 
Bethlehem,  were  possible,  then  the  cure  for  moral  corruption 
were  found.  Hence  some  indeed  have  been  anxiously  looking 
for  the  coming  of  some  glorious  Universal  Spirit,  who  might 
again    instill    his    vitalizing    power  into  the  heart-blood  of 
the    nations.     But    why  dwell  longer  on  such  idle  fancies? 
Nothing   can    possibly    surpass    the    God-given  Christ,  and 
what    we    are  to  look  for,  instead  of  a  second  Messiah,  is 
the  second  coming  of  the  Same  Christ  of  Calvary,  this  time 
with  his  tan  in  his  hand  for  judgment,  not  to  open  up  for  our 
sin-cursed  life  a  new  evolution,  but  to  receive  it  at  its  goal 
and  solemnly  to  conclude  the  history  of  the  world.    Either 
this  second  coming,  therefore,  is  near  at  hand,  and  what  we 
are    witnessing    are    the    death-throes    of   humanity :    or  a 
rejuvenation  is  still  in  store  for  us,  but  if  so,  that  rejuvena- 
tion   can   come    only    through   the    old    and  yet  ever  new 
gospel    which    at    the    beginning   of  our  era  and  again  at 
the  time  of  the  Reformation  has  saved  the  threatened  life 
of  our  race.     For  every  believer  this  is  a  matter  of  absolute 
and  immediate  certainty  by  reason  of  his  faith,  but  even  for 
the  unbeliever  it  admits  of  historical  verification,  inasmuch  as 
twice  only  has  trial  been  made  of  a  power  that  could  infuse 
new  vital  vigor  into  the  race,  and  both  times  Christianity 
and  Christianity  alone  has  proven  equal  to  the  task. 

The  most  alarming  feature,  however,  of  the  present  situation 
is  the  lamentable  absence  of  that  receptivity  in  our  diseased 
organism,  which  is  indispensable  to  the  effecting  of  a  cure.  In 
theGraeco-Roman  world  such  receptivity  did  exist ;  the  hearts 
opened  spontaneously  to  receive  the  truth.  To  an  even  stronger 
degree  this  receptivity  existed  in  the  age  of  the  Reformation 
when  large  masses  cried  for  the  gospel.  Then  as  now  the 
body  suffered  from  anaemia,  and  blood-poisoning  even  had 
set  in,  but  there  was  no  aversion  to  the  only  effectual 
antidote.  Now  it  is  precisely  this  that  distinguishes  our  modern 


CALVINISM  AND  THE  FUTURE.  6 

decadence  from  the  preceding  ones,  that  with  the  masses 
the  receptivity  for  the  gospel  is  on  the  decrease,  whilst 
with  the  higher  classes  the  positive  aversion  to  it  is  on  the 
increase.  The  invitation  to  how  the  knee  before  Christ,  as 
God,  is  met  with  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  if  not  with  the 
sarcastic  rejoinder:  "Fit  for  children  and  old  women,  not 
for  us  men!"  The  leading  classes  of  society  consider  them- 
selves in  ever  increasing  measure  as  having  outgrown 
Christianity. 

Therefore,  first  of  all.  the  question  must  be  answered  wind 
has  brought  us  to  this  pass,  a  question  deriving  its  paramount 
importance  from  the  fact  that  only  a  correct  diagnosis  can 
lead  to  effective  medication.  Now,  historically,  the  cause  of 
the  evil  is  found  in  nothing  else  than  in  the  spiritual  degene- 
ration which  marked  the  close  of  the  preceding  century. 
The  responsibility  for  this  degeneration  undoubtedly  rests 
in  part  with  the  Christian  churches  themselves,  not 
excepting  those  of  the  Reformation.  Worn  out  by  the 
struggle  for  reform,  these  last  churches  had  fallen  asleep, 
had  allowed  leaf  and  Mower  to  wither  on  their  branches,  and 
had  apparently  become  forgetful  of  their  duties  in  refer- 
ence to  humanity  at  large  and  the  whole  sphere  of  human 
life.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  upon  this  more  fully. 
It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  towards  the  end 
of  that  century  the  general  tone  of  life  had  become 
vapid  and  common-place,  ignoble  and  base  at  heart. 
The  eagerly  devoured  literature  of  the  period  furnishes  the 
proof.  By  way  of  reaction  against  this,  the  proposal 
was  then  made  by  deistic  and  atheistic  philosophers,  first 
in  England,  but  afterwards  chiefly  in  France  on  the  part 
of  the  Encyclopaedists,  to  place  the  whole  of  life  on  a 
new  basis,  turn  upside  dowTn  the  existing  order  of  affairs, 
and  arrange  a  new  world  on  the  assumption  that  human 
nature  continues  in  its  uncorrupted  state.  This  conception 
was  an  heroic  one  and  awakened  response :  it  struck  the 
noblest  chords  of  the  human  heart.  In  the  great  revolution 


CALVINISM    AND    THE  FUTURE. 


of  17S9  it  was  first  put  into  execution.  Xow  in  this  mighty 
revolution,  in  this  upheaval  not  only  of  political  conditions, 
but  even  more  of  convictions,  ideas,  and  usages  of  life,  two 
elements  should  be  sharply  distinguished.  In  one  respect  it 
was  an  imitation  of  Calvinism,  whilst  in  another  respect  it 
was  in  direct  opposition  to  its  principles.  The  great  revolution, 
it  should  not  be  forgotten,  broke  out  in  a  Roman-Catholic 
country,  where  first  in  the  night  of  St.  Bartholomew  and 
subsequently  by  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  the 
Huguenots  had  been  slaughtered  and  hanished.  After  this 
violent  suppression  of  Protestantism  in  France  and  other 
Roman-Catholic  countries  the  ancient  despotism  had  regained 
its  ascendency,  and  to  these  nations  all  the  fruits  of  the 
Reformation  had  been  lost.  This,  by  way  of  caricature  of 
Calvinism,  invited  and  compelled  the  attempt  to  strike  for 
freedom  by  external  violence  and  to  establish  a  pseudo- 
democratic  state  of  affairs,  which  was  to  preclude  for  ever 
a  return  to  despotism.  Thus  the  French  revolution,  by 
meeting  violence  with  violence,  crime  with  crime,  strove 
after  the  same  social  liberty  which  Calvinism  had  proclaimed 
among  the  nations  but  which  had  been  attempted  by 
Calvinism  in  the  course  of  a  purely  spiritual  movement 
By  this  the  French  revolution  in  a  sense  executed  a  judg- 
ment of  God,  the  result  of  which  affords,  even  to  Calvinists, 
cause  for  rejoicing.  The  shades  of  De  Coligny  were  aveuged 
in  the  September-murders  of  Mazas. 

Bat  this  is  only  one  side  of  the  medal  of  the  revolu- 
tion. Its  reverse  discloses  a  purpose  directly  opposed 
to  the  sound  Calvinistic  idea  of  liberty.  Calvinism  by  virtue 
of  its  profoundly  serious  conception  of  life  had  strengthened 
and  consecrated  the  social  and  ethical  ties ;  the  French 
revolution  loosened  and  entirely  unfastened  them,  detach- 
ing life  not  merely  from  the  Church  but  also  from  God's 
ordinances,  even  from  God  Himself.  Man  as  such,  each 
individual  henceforth,  was  to  be  his  own  lord  and  master, 
guided  by  his  own  free  will  and  good  pleasure.    The  train 


CALVINISM   AND    THE    FUTUBE.  8 

of  life  was  to  rush  forward  as  heretofore  but  no  longer 
bound  to  follow  the  track  of  the  divine  commandments. 
What  else  could  result  than  wreckage  and  ruin  ?  Enquire 
of  the  France  of  to-day  what  fruit  the  fundamental  idea 
other  grand  revolution  has  yielded  to  the  nation  after  its  first 
century  of  free  sway  so  rich  in  horrors,  and  the  answer 
comes  in  a  most  pitiful  tale  of  national  decadence  and 
social  demoralisation. 

Humbled  by  the  enemy  from  beyond  the  Rhine,  internally 
rent  by  partisan  fury,  dishonored  by  the  Panama  cabal, 
disgraced  by  its  pornography,  the  victim  of  oeconomic 
retrogression,  stationary,  nay,  even  decreasing  in  population, 
France,  as  has  been  well  said  by  Gamier,  a  medical 
authority  on  the  subject,  France  has  been  led  by  egotism 
to  degrade  marriage,  by  lust  to  destroy  family-life,  and 
presents  to-day,  in  wide  circles,  the  disgusting  spectacle 
of  men  and  women  lost  in  unnatural  sexual  sin.  I  am 
aware  that  there  are  still  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
families  in  France  living  without  reproach,  who  dearly 
grieve  at  the  moral  ruin  of  their  country,  but  then  these 
are  the  very  circles  which  have  resisted  the  false  pretences 
of  the  Revolution;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  almost 
bestialized  circles  are  those  that  have  succumbed  to  the 
first  onset  of  Voltairianism. 

From  France  this  spirit  of  dissolution,  this  passion  ot 
wild  emancipation  has  spread  among  the  other  nations 
especially  through  the  medium  of  an  infamously  obscene 
literature,  and  infected  their  lives.  Then  nobler  minds 
particularly  in  Germany,  perceiving  what  depth  of  wickedness 
had  been  reached  in  France,  made  the  bold  attempt  of 
realizing  this  enticing  and  reducing  idea  of  "emancipation 
from  God"  in  a  higher  form  while  yet  retaining  its  essence. 
Philosophers  of  the  first  rank  in  a  stately  procession  each 
for  himself  constructed  a  cosmology  endeavoring  to  restore 
a  firm  foundation  to  social  and  ethical  relations,  either 
by  putting  them  on  the  basis  of  natural  law,  or  by  giving 


CALVINISM   AND    THE   FUTURE. 


them  an  ideal  substratum  evolved  from  their  own  speculation. 
For  a  moment  this  attempt  seemed  to  have  a  fair  chance 
of  success,  for,  instead  of  atheistically  banishing  God  from 
their  system,  these  philosophers  sought  refuge  in  Pantheism, 
and  thus  made  it  feasible  to  found  the  social  structure, 
not  as  the  French,  on  a  state  of  nature  or  on  the  atomistic 
will  of  the  individual,  but  on  the  processes  of  history  and 
the  collective  will  of  the  race,  unconsciously  tending  towards 
the  highest  goal.  And,  indeed,  for  more  than  half  a  century 
this  philosophy  has  imparted  a  certain  stability  to  life : 
not  that  any  real  stability  was  inherent  in  the  systems 
themselves,  but  because  the  established  order  of  law  and 
strong  political  institutions  in  Germany  lent  the  indirect 
support  of  tradition  to  the  walls  of  an  edifice  which 
otherwise  would  have  immediately  collapsed.  Even  so, 
however,  it  could  not  prevent  that  in  Germany,  also. 
moral  principles  became  more  and  more  problematic, 
moral  foundations  more  and  more  insecure,  no  other  right 
than  that  of  actual  law  received  recognition,  and,  however 
much  German  and  French  development  might  differ 
between  themselves,  both  agreed  in  their  aversion  to,  and 
rejection  of,  traditional  Christianity.  Voltaire's  "Ecrasez 
finfdme"  is  already  left  far  behind  by  Von  Nietzsche's 
blasphemous  utterances  on  the  Christ,  and  Von  is'ietzsche 
is  the  author  whose  works  are  being  most  eagerly  devoured 
by  the  young  modem  Germany  of  our  day.  . 

After  this  manner  then,  we  in  Europe  at  least,  have 
arrived  at  what  is  called  modern  life,  involving  a  radical 
breach  with  the  Christian  traditions  of  the  Europe  of  the 
past.  The  spirit  of  this  modern  life  is  most  clearly  marked  by 
the  fact  that  it  seeks  the  origin  of  man  not  in  creation  after 
the  image  of  God  but  in  evolution  from  the  orang-outang 
or  chimpanzee.  Two  fundamental  ideas  are  clearly  implied 
in  this:  1.  that  the  point  of  departure  is  no  longer  the 
ideal  or  the  divine  but  the  material  and  the  low;  2.  that 
the    sovereignty    of    God,    which  ought  to  be  supreme,  is 


CALVINISM   AXD   THE   FUTURE.  1© 


denied,  and  man  yields  himself  to  the  mystical  current  of 
an  endless  process,  a  regressus  and  processus  in  infinitum. 
Out  of  the  root  of  these  two  fertile  ideas  a  double  type 
of  life  is  now  being  evolved.  On  the  one  hand  the  interest- 
ing, rich  and  highly-organized  life  of  University-circles 
attainable  by  the  more  refined  minds  only,  and  at  the  side 
of  this,  or  rather  far  beneath  it,  a  materialistic  life  of  the 
masses,  craving  after  pleasure,  but,  in  their  own  way,  also 
taking  their  point  of  departure  in  matter,  and  likewise, 
but  after  their  own  cynical  fashion,  emancipating  them- 
selves from  all  fixed  ordinances.  Especially  in  our  ever- 
expanding  large  cities  this  second  type  of  life  is  gaining 
the  upper  hand,  and,  overriding  the  voice  of  the  country- 
districts,  is  giving  a  shape  to  public  opinion,  which  avows 
its  ungodly  character  more  openly  in  each  successive  gene- 
ration. Money,  pleasure  and  social  power,  these  alone  are 
the  objects  of  pursuit,  and  people  are  constantly  growing 
less  fastidious  regarding  the  means  employed  to  secure 
them.  Thus  the  voice  of  conscience  becomes  less  and  less 
audible,  and  duller  the  lustre  of  the  eye  which  on  the 
eve  of  the  revolution  still  reflected  some  gleam  of  the 
ideal.  The  fire  of  all  higher  enthusiasm  has  been  quenched, 
only  the  dead  embers  remain.  In  the  midst  of  the  weari- 
ness of  life,  what  can  restrain  from  taking  refuge  in 
suicide  ?  Deprived  of  the  wholesome  influence  of  rest,  the 
brain  is  oversti undated  and  over-exerted  till  the  asylums 
are  no  longer  adequate  for  housing  the  insane.  Whether 
property  be  not  synonymous  with  theft,  becomes  a  more 
and  more  seriously  mooted  question.  That  life  ought  to  be 
freeer  and  marriage  less  binding  is  being  accepted  more  and 
more  on  an  established  proposition.  The  cause  of  mono- 
gamy is  no  longer  worth  fighting  for,  since  polygamy  and 
polyandry  are  being  systematically  glorified  in  all  products 
of  the  realistic  school  of  art  and  Literature.  In  harmony 
with  this,  religion  is  of  course  declared  superfluous 
because   it   renders  life  gloomy.     But  art,  art  above  all,  is 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  11 

in  demand,  not  for  the  sake  of  its  ideal  worth,  but  because 
it  pleases  and  intoxicates  the  senses.  Thus  people  live  in 
time  and  for  temporal  things,  and  shut  their  ears  to  the 
tolling  of  the  bells  of  eternity.  The  irrepressible  tendency 
is  to  make  the  whole  view  of  life  concrete,  concentrated, 
practical.  And  out  of  this  modernized  private  life  there 
emerges  a  type  of  social  and  political  life  characterized  by 
a  decadence  of  parliamentarism,  by  an  ever  stronger  desire 
for  a  dictator,  by  pauperism  and  capitalism  arrayed  against 
each  other  in  sharp  conflict,  whilst  heavy  armaments  on 
land  and  on  sea,  even  at  the  price  of  financial  ruin,  become 
the  ideal  of  these  powerful  states  whose  craving  for  terri- 
torial expansion  threatens  the  very  existence  of  the  weaker 
nations.  Gradually  the  conflict  between  the  strong  and 
the  weak  has  grown  to  be  the  controlling  feature  of  life, 
arising  from  Darwinism  itself,  whose  central  idea  of  a 
struggle  for  life  has  for  its  mainspring  this  very  antithesis. 
Yon  Nietzsche  has  not  shrunk  from  pouring  out  the 
phials  of  his  contempt  over  everything  that  is  weak  and 
from  exalting  the  strong  for  its  own  sake.  Since  Bismarck 
introduced  it  into  higher  politics  the  maxim  of  the  right 
of  the  stronger  has  found  universal  acceptance.  The 
scholars  and  experts  of  our  day  demand  with  increasing 
boldness  that  the  common  man  shall  bow  to  their  authority. 
And  the  end  can  but  be  that  once  more  the  sound  prin- 
ciples of  democracy  will  lie  banished,  to  make  room  this 
time  not  for  a  new  aristocracy  of  nobler  birth  and  higher 
ideals,  but  for  the  coarse  overbearing  kratistocracy  of  a  brutal 
money-power.  Von  Nietzsche  is  by  no  means  exceptional, 
but  proclaims  as  its  herald  the  future  of  our  modern  life. 
And  while  the  Christ  in  divine  compassion  showed  heart  win- 
ning sympathy  with  the  weak,  modern  life  in  this  respect  also 
takes  the  precisely  opposite  ground  that  the  weak  must  be  sup- 
planted by  the  strong.  Such  was  the  process  of  selection  to  which 
we,  ourselves,  owe  our  origin  and  such  is  the  process  which  in  us 
and  after  us  must  work  itself  out  to  its  ultimate  consequences. 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  13 

Meanwhile,  as  observed  above,  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that    there    flows    in  modern  life  a  side-current,  of  nobler 
origin.     A  host  of  high-minded  men  arose,  who,  shrinking 
from  the  uneasy  chill  of  the  moral  atmosphere,  and  taking 
alarm  at  the  brutality  of  the  prevailing  egotism,  endeavored  to 
strengthen  the  low-ebbing  life  partly  by  means  of  altruism, 
partly  by  means  of  a  mystical  cult  of  the  feelings,  partly  even  by 
means  of  the  name  of  Christianity.  Though  in  accord  with  the 
school  of  the  French  Revolution  in  their  breach  with  Christian 
tradition  and  in  their  refusal    to    recognize    any    point  of 
departure  besides  that  of  empiricism  and  nationalism,  these 
men  nevertheless,  by  acquiescing,  as  Kant  in  a  gross  dualism, 
tried  to  escape  from  the  fatal  consequences  of  their  principle. 
It   is    precisely    from    this  dualism  that  they  drew  the  in- 
spiration   for    the    many    noble    ideas    elaborated  in  their 
theories,  embodied  in  their  poetry,  conjured  up  before  our 
imagination  in  touching  romances,  commended  to  our  con- 
sciences   in    ethical  treatises,   and,  best  of  all,  realized  not 
unfrequently   in    the    serious    pursuit    of  lite      With  them, 
side  by  side  with  the  intellect,  conscience  had  maintained  its 
authority,  for.  even  where  God  is  forsaken,  couscience,  being 
divinely  touched,  remains  capable  of  producing,  to  a  certain 
extent,  pure  and  sound  emotions.  To  the  vigorous  initiative 
of  these  men  we  owe  the  numerous  Sociological  investigations 
and  practical  measures,  which  have  allayed  and  alleviated  so 
much  suffering,  and  by  an  ideal  altruism  have  put  to  shame 
the  selfishness  even  of  so  many  a  Christian  heart.  Having  a 
personal  predisposition  for  mysticism  some  of  them  claimed 
the    right    to    emancipate    the   inner  life  of  the  soul  from 
all  restraints  of  criticism.   To  lose  one's  self  in  the  Infinite, 
and   to  feel  the  stream  of  the  Infinite  pulsate  through  the 
deepest  recesses  of  the  inner  life,  meant  to  them  the  highest 
raptures  of  piety.    Others  again— specially  theologians,— to 
a  less  extent  divorced  from  Christianity  by  reason  of  their 
antecedents,    office   or  scholarly  occupation,  falling  in  with 
this  altruism  and  mysticism,  set  themselves  the  task  of  so 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  13 


metamorphosing  the  Christ  that  he  might  continue  to  glitter 
from   the  throne  of  humanity,  as   the  highest  ideal  of  the 
modernized  human  heart.  Each  and  all  inspired  by  sincerity 
and  inspiring  by  their  ideal  intent,  these  endeavours  ma}-  be 
traced  from  Schleiermacher  down  to  Ritschl.  He,  therefore, 
who  would  look  down  upon  such  men  would  only  dishonor 
himself.     Much   rather    we  ought  to  thank  them  for  what 
they     endeavored    to    save,    also    those    women    of   noble 
aspirations,    who    by   their  character-novels,  written  in  an 
elevated    Christian   spirit,  have  counteracted  so  much  that 
was  base,  and  have  fostered  so  many  precious  germs.  Even 
Spiritism,  fraught  with  error  though  it  be,  has  often  received 
its   impulse   from   the   alluring  hope  that  the  contact  with 
the    eternal    world,    destroyed  by    criticism,  could  thus  be 
reestablished  through  the  medium  of  visions.  Unfortunately, 
however  boldly  conceived  this  ethical  dualism  might  be,  and 
whatever  bold  metamorphoses  this  mysticism  might  indulge 
in,  there  always  lurked  behind  it  the  naturalistic,  nationalistic 
system  of  thought  which  the  intellect  had  devised.     They 
extolled    the    normal    character    of   their   cosmology    over 
against    the  abnormalism   of  our   belief,  and  the  Christian 
religion,  being  abnormalistic  in  principle  and  in  its  mode  of 
manifestation,    inevitably    lost  ground,    to    such    an  extent 
that  some  of  our  best  men  did  not  shrink  from  professing 
that  they  preferred  not  only  Spiritism  but  Mohammedanism, 
and   Von  Schopenhauer  even  Buddhism  to  the  old  Church 
Faith.     It    is    true    that  the  entire  phalanx  of  theologians 
from    Schleiermacher    to    Pfleiderer   continued  to  pay  high 
honors  to  the  name  of  Christ,  but  it  is  equally  undeniable 
that   this    remained  possible  only  by  subjecting  Christ  and 
the    Christian    confession    to    ever   bolder    metamorphoses. 
A  painful  fact,  but  one  which  becomes   absolutely  evident, 
if  you  compare  the  creed  now  current  in  these  circles  with 
the  confession  for  which  our  Martyrs  shed  their  blood. 

Even    confining   ourselves   to  the  Apostles'  creed,  which 
for   more   than    a    thousand    years    has-been  the  Common 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  14 

standard  of  all  Christians,  we  find  that  the  belief  in  God 
as  the  "Creator  of  heaven  and  earth"  has  been  abolished, 
for  creation  has  been  supplanted  by  evolution.  Abolished 
also  has  been  the  belief  in  God  the  Son,  as  born  from  the 
Virgin  Mary,  through  conception  from  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Abolished  further,  with  many,  the  belief  in  his  resurrection 
and  ascension  and  return  to  judgment.  Abolished  finally 
even  the  belief  of  the  church  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
or  at  least  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  The  name  of  the 
Christian  religion  is  still  being  retained,  but  in  essence  it  has 
become  a  quite  different  religion  in  its  principle,  even  of  a 
diametrically  opposite  character.  And  when  incessantty  the 
charge  is  brought  against  us,  that  in  point  of  fact  the 
traditional  Christ  of  the  Church  involves  a  complete  metamor- 
phosis of  the  genuine  Jesus,  whilst  the  modern  interpreta- 
tion has  lifted  the  veil  off  the  true  character  of  the 
historical  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  we  can  but  answer,  that 
after  all,  historically,  not  this  modern  conception  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  but  the  church's  confession  of  the  God-Man 
is  the  one  that  has  conquered  the  world ;  and  that 
throughout  those  fifty  ages  the  best  and  most  pious 
of  our  race  have  paid  homage  to  the  Christ  of  tradi- 
tion and  rejoiced  in  Him  as  their  Savior  in  the  shadow 
of  Death. 

Though  desiring  to  be  second  to  none,  therefore,  in 
sincere  appreciation  of  what  is  noble  in  such  attempts,  I 
am  fully  settled  in  my  conviction  that  no  help  is  to  be 
expected  from  that  quarter.  A  theology  which  virtually 
destroys  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  a  sacred 
book ;  which  sees  in  sin  nothing  but  a  lack  of  development ; 
recognises  Christ  for  no  more  than  a  religious  genius  of 
central  significance ;  views  redemption  as  a  mere  reversal 
of  our  subjective  mode  of  thinking;  and  indulges  in  a  mysticism 
dualistically  opposed  to  the  world  of  the  intellect, — such  a 
theology  is  like  a  dam  giving  way  before  the  first  assault 
of  the  inrushing  tide.     It  is  a  theology  without  hold  upon 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  15 

the    masses,    a    quasi-religion  utterly  powerless  to   restore 
our  sadly  tottering  moral  life  to  even  a  temporary  footing. 


May  more  perhaps  be  expected  from  the  marvellous 
energy  displayed  in  the  latter  half  of  this  century  by 
Home  ?  Let  us  not  too  hastily  dismiss  this  question. 
Though  the  history  of  the  Reformation  has  established 
a  fundamental  antithesis  between  Rome  and  ourselves, 
and  though  the  cry  of  "no  popery",  or  the  principle 
of  antipapism  still  awakens  an  echo  in  so  many  hearts, 
it  would  nevertheless  be  narrow-minded  and  short-sighted 
to  underestimate  the  real  power  which  even  now  is  manifest 
in  Rome's  warfare  against  Atheism  and  Pantheism.  Only 
ignorance  of  the  exhaustive  studies  of  Romish  philosophy 
and  of  Rome's  successful  efforts  in  social  life,  could  account 
for  such  a  superficial  judgment.  Calvin  in  his  da}r  already 
acknowledged  that,  as  against  a  spirit  from  the  Great 
Deep,  he  considered  Roman  believers  his  allies.  A  so-called 
orthodox  Protestant  need  only  mark  in  his  confession  and 
catechism  such  doctrines  of  religion  and  morals  as  are  not 
subject  to  controversy  between  Rome  and  ourselves,  to 
perceive  immediately,  that  what  we  have  in  common  with 
Rome  concerns  precisely  those  fundamentals  of  our  Christian 
creed  now  most  fiercely  assaulted  by  the  modern  spirit. 
Undoubtedly  on  the  points  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  of 
man's  nature  before  and  after  the  Fall,  of  justification,  of  the 
mass,  of  the  invocation  of  saints  and  angels,  of  the 
worship  of  images,  of  purgatory  and  many  others,  we 
are  as  unflinchingly  opposed  to  Rome  as  our  fathers 
were.  But  does  not  current  literature  show  that  these 
are  not  now  the  points  on  which  the  struggle  of  the 
age  is  concentrated '?  Are  not  the  lines  of  battle  drawn 
as  follows:  Theism  over  against  Pantheism ;  sin  over  against 
imperfection;  the  divine  Christ  of  Cod  over  against  Jesus  the 
mere  man;  the  cross  a  sacrifice  of  reconciliation  over  against 


CALVINISM    AND   THE   FUTURE.  16 

the  cross  as  a  symbol  of  martyrdom ;  the  Bible  as  given  by 
inspiration  of  God  over  against  a  purely  human  product; 
the  ten  commandments  as  ordained  by  God  over  against 
a  mere  archaeological  document ;  the  ordinances  of  God 
absolutely  established  over  against  an  ever-changing  law 
and  morality  spun  out  of  man's  subjective  consciousness  ? 
Now  in  this  conflict  Rome  is  not  an  antagonist,  but  stands 
on  our  side,  inasmuch  as  she  also  recognises  and  maintains 
the  Trinity,  the  Deity  of  Christ,  the  Cross  as  an  all-atoning 
sacrifice,  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  ten 
Commandments  as  a  divinely  imposed  rule  of  life.  There- 
fore, let  me  ask,  if  Roman  theologians  take  up  the  sword 
to  do  valiant  and  skilful  battle  against  the  same  tendency 
that  we  ourselves  mean  to  fight  to  the  death,  is  it  not 
the  part  of  wisdom  to  accept  the  valuable  help  of  their 
elucidation?  Calvin  at  least  was  accustomed  to  appeal  to 
Thomas  of  Aquino.  And  I  for  my  part  am  not  ashamed  to 
confess  that  on  many  points  my  views  have  been  clarified 
through  the  work  of  the  Romish  theologians. 

This,  however,  does  not  in  the  least  involve,  that  our  hope 
for  the  future  may  be  placed  in  Rome's  endeavour,  and  that 
we,  idle  ourselves,  may  await  Rome's  victory.  A  rapid  survey 
of  the  situation  will  suffice  to  convince  us  of  the  contrary. 
To  begin  with  your  own  continent,  can  South-America  for  a 
moment  stand  a  comparison  with  the  North  ?  Now  inSouth- 
and  Central-America  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  supreme. 
It  has  exclusive  control  in  this  territory,  Protestantism  not 
even  counting  as  a  factor.  Here,  then,  is  an  immense 
field  in  which  the  social  and  political  power,  which  Rome 
can  bring  to  bear  upon  the  regeneration  of  our  race,  can 
freely  exert  itself,  a  field,  moreover,  in  which  Rome  is  not 
a  recent  arrival,  but  which  she  has  occupied  for  almost 
three  centuries.  The  youthful  development  of  the  social 
organism  of  these  countries  has  stood  under  her  influence, 
she  has  remained  in  control  also  of  their  intellectual  and 
spiritual  life  since  their  liberation  from  Spain  and  Portugal. 


•CALVINISM   AND   THE   FUTURE.  17 

Moreover  the  population  of  these  States  is  derived  from  such 
European  countries  as  have  always  been  under  the  undisputed 
sway  of  Rome.  The  test,  therefore,  is  as  complete  and  fair  as 
possible.  But  in  vain  do  we  look  in  those  American  Romish 
States  for  a  life  which  elevates,  develops  energy,  and  exerts 
a  wholesome  influence  outside     Financially  they  are  weak, 
almost  unprogressive  in  their  economic  conditions ;  in  their 
political  life  they  present  the  sad  spectacle  of  endless  internal 
strife ;  and,  if  one  were  inclined  to  form  an  ideal  picture  of  the 
future    of  the  world,  he  might  almost  do  so  by  imagining 
the  very  opposite  of  what  is  the  actual  situation  in  South- 
America.     Nor    can   it  be  pleaded  in  excuse  of  Rome  that 
this    is    clue    to    exceptional  circumstances,  for  in  the  first 
place    this  political  backwardness  is  met  with  not  only  in 
Chili,    but    likewise    in    Peru,    in    Brazil    as    well    as    in 
the    Argentine   Republic ;  while,  crossing  from  the  new  to 
the    old    world,    we   reach,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  the  same 
conclusion.     In    Europe,    also,    the    credit  of  all  Protestant 
states    is   high,  that    of  the  Southern  Countries  which  are 
Roman    Catholic    is   at    a  painful  discount.     Economic  and 
administrative   affairs   in  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  not  less 
in  Italy,  offer  cause  for  continual  complaint.     The  outward 
power    and    outside    influence     of  these   states   is    visibly 
declining.     And,   what  is  more  discouraging  still,  infidelity 
and    a   revolutionary    spirit    have    made    such    inroads    in 
these   countries,    that    half  of  the  population,  though  still 
nominally    Romish,    has   in    reality    broken    with   all    true 
religion.      This    may    be   seen    in    Prauce,  which  is  almost 
entirely   Romish,   and   yet  has  voted  time  and  again  with 
overwhelming  majorities  against  the  advocates  of  religion. 
In  fact  we  may  say ;  that,  in  order  to  appreciate  the  noble, 
energetic  traits  of  the  Romanists,  one  must  observe  them, 
not  in  their  own  countries  where  they  are  on  the  decline, 
but  in  the  center  of  Protestant  North-Germany,  in  Protestant 
Holland  and  England  and  in  your  own  Protestant  States.  In 
regions  where,  deprived  of  a  controlling  influence,  they  adjust 


CALVINISM   AND    THE    FUTURE.  18 

themselves  to  the  polity  of  others  and  concentrate  their  strength 
as  an  opposition  party,  under  such  leaders  as  Manning  and 
Wiseman,   Von  Ketteler  and  Windthorst,    they    compel  our 
admiration  by  the  enthusiastic  championship  of  their  cause. 
But    even   apart    from  this    testimonium    paupevtatis    fur- 
nished   by    Rome    Herself   through  the  mismanagement  in 
Southern   Europe    and    South-America,    where   she  has  full 
sway,    in   the    contest    of    the   nations  also  her  power  and 
influence   are    visibly   waning.     The   balance   of  power   in 
Europe  is  now  gradually  passing  into  the  hands  of  Russia, 
Germany    and    England,    every    one  of  them   non-Romish 
States,   and   on  your  own  continent  the  Protestant  North 
holds   the   supremacy.     Since    1866   Austria  has  been  con- 
tinually retrogressing  and  at  the  death  of  the  present  Emperor 
will   be    seriously   threatened    with    dissolution.     Italy   has 
attempted    to  live  beyond  its  resources:    it  strove  to  he  a 
great,  colonial,  naval  power,  and  the  result  is  that  it  has 
brought  itself  to   the  verge  of  economic  ruin.     The  battle 
of  Addua   dealt  the  death-blow  to  more  than  her  colonial 
aspirations.     Spain   and  Portugal   have  absolutely   lost   all 
influence   on    the  Social,  intellectual,  and  political  develop- 
ment   of   Europe.      And    France,     which    only   fifty  years 
ago    made    all   Europe    tremble   at  the  unsheathing  of  her 
sword,    is    now    herself  anxiously    scanning  the   Sibylline 
books    of  her    future.     Even    from    a    statistical    point    of 
view,    the   power     of   Rome    is    all    the    while  decreasing. 
Economic     depression     has     in    more     than    one    Romish 
country    brought     about   a    considerable    decrease    of   the 
birthrate.     Whilst    in    Russia,    Germany.   England  and  the 
United     States    population     is    growing,    it   has    in   some 
Romish    countries    become    almost   stationary.     Even   now 
statistics    give    only   the   smaller    half   of  Christendom    to 
the    Roman-Catholic  Church,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that 
within    the    next    half  century   its  share  will  be  less  than 
forty    per    cent.    However     highly,    therefore,    I    may    be 
inclined    to    value   the    inherent   power  of  Roman -Catholic 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  19 

unity  and  scholarship  for  the  defense  of  much,  we  also 
count  sacred,  and  though  I  do  not  see  how  we  could 
repulse  the  attack  of  modernism  save  by  combined  exertion, 
nevertheless  there  is  not  the  slightest  prospect  that  the 
political  supremacy  will  ever  again  pass  into  Rome's  hands. 
And,  even  if  this  were  to  happeu  contrary  to  expectations, 
who  could  possibly  rejoice  as  in  the  realization  of  his  ideal, 
of  he  beheld  the  conditions  now  prevailing  in  Southern 
Europe  and  South  America  reproduced  elsewhere. 

We  may,  in  fact,  even  put  it  more  strongly:  it  would 
be  a  step  backwards  in  the  course  of  history.  Rome's 
world  and  life-view  represents  an  older  and  hence  lower  stage 
of  development  in  the  history  of  mankind.  Protestantism  suc- 
ceeded it,  and  hence  occupies  a  spiritually  higher  standpoint. 
He  who  will  not  go  backwards,  but  reaches  after  higher  things, 
must  therefore  either  stand  by  the  world-view  once  developed 
by  Protestantism,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  for  this  too  is  con- 
ceivable, point  out  a  still  higher  standpoint.  Now  this  it  is 
that  the  latter  modern  philosophy  does  indeed  presume  to 
do,  acknowledging  Luther  as  a  great  man  for  his  time,  but 
hailing  in  Kant  and  Darwin  the  apostles  of  a  much  richer 
gospel.  But  this  need  not  detain  us.  For  our  own  age, 
however  great  in  invention,  in  the  display  of  powers  of 
mind  and  energy,  has  not  advanced  us  a  single  step  in  the 
establishment  of  principles,  has  in  no  wise  given  us  a  higher 
view  of  life,  and  has  yielded  us  neither  greater  stability 
nor  greater  soundness  in  our  religious  and  ethical  i.e.  truly 
human  existence.  The  solid  faith  of  the  Reformation  it  has 
bartered  for  shifting  hypotheses;  and  in  so  far  as  it  ven- 
tured upon  a  systematised  and  strictly  logical  life-view  it  did 
not  reach  forward,  but  backward,  to  that  Heathen  wisdom 
of  pre-Christian  times,  of  which  Paul  testified  that  God 
has  put  it  to  shame  by  the  foolishness  of  the  Cross.  Let 
no  one  therefore  say :  Ye,  who,  because  history  does  not 
go  backward,  protest  against  a  return  to  Rome,  ye 
yourselves  have  no  right  to  make  a  stand  on  Protestantism ; 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  20 

for  after  Protestantism  came  Modernism.  For  the  pertinence 
of  such  an  objection  must  be  denied,  as  long  as  my 
contention  be  not  disproved,  that  the  material  advance  of 
our  century  has  nothing  in  common  with  advancement  in 
the  matter  of  life  principles,  and  that  what  modernism 
offers  us  is  not  modern  but,  rather,  very  antique,  not 
posterior,  but  anterior  to  Protestantism,  reaching  back  to 
the  Stoa  and  to  Epicurus. 

Only  along  the  lines  of  Protestantism  therefore,  can  a 
successful  advance  be  attempted,  and  on  those  lines  indeed 
salvation  is  sought  at  present,  by  two  different  tendencies 
both  of  which  must  lead  to  bitter  disappointment.  The 
one  of  these  is  practical,  the  other  mystical  in  character. 
Without  hope  of  defense  against  modern  criticism  and  still 
less  against  criticism  of  dogma,  the  former,  the  practical 
tendency,  holds  that  Christians  can  do  no  better  than  fall 
back  upon  all  manner  of  Christian  works.  Its  devotees  are  at 
a  loss  what  attitude  to  assume  towards  the  Scriptures ;  they 
have  become  themselves  estranged  from  dogma;  but  what 
is  to  prevent  such  hesitating  believers  from  sacrificing 
their  person  and  their  gold  to  the  cause  of  philan- 
thropy, evangelism  and  missions  !  This  even  offers  a  threefold 
advantage:  it  unites  Christians  of  all  shades  of  opinion, 
alleviates  much  misery,  and  has  a  conciliatory  attraction 
for  the  non-Christian  world.  And  of  course  this  propagandism 
through  action  must  lie  gratefully  and  sympathetically  hailed. 
In  the  century  that  has  passed,  Christian  activity  was  indeed 
far  too  limited  and  a  Christianity  that  does  not  prove  its 
worth  in  practice,  degenerates  into  dry  scholasticism  and 
idle  talk.  It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that 
Christianity  can  be  confined  within  the  limits  of  such 
practical  manifestation.  Our  Savior  made  whole  the  sick 
and  fed  the  hungry,  but  the  paramount  thing  in  His 
ministry  was,  after  all,  that  in  strict  allegiance  to  the 
Scriptures  of  the  old  covenant,  He  openly  proclaimed 
his    own    divinity    and    mediatorship,  the  expiation  of  sins 


CALVINISM   AND   THE   FUTURE.  21 

through  his  blood,  and  his  coming  to  judgment.  No  dogma, 
in  fact,  has  ever  been  confessed  by  the  church  of  Christ 
which  was  not  the  intellectual  definition  of  what  Christ 
proclaimed  about  His  own  mission  to  the  world,  and  about 
the  world  to  which  he  was  sent.  He  healed  the  sick  body, 
but.  He  even  more  truly  bound  up  our  spiritual  wounds. 
He  rescued  us  from  Paganism  and  Judaism  and  translated 
us  into  a  wholly  new  world  of  convictions  of  which  He 
Himself  as  the  God-ordained  Messiah  constituted  the  center. 
Besides,  so  far  as  our  dispute  with  Rome  is  concerned, 
we  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  in  Christian 
works  and  devotion  Rome  still  outstrips  us:  nay  let  us 
acknowledge  without  reserve  that  even  the  unbelieving 
world  is  beginning  to  rival  us  and  that  in  deeds  of  philan- 
thropy, she  tries  more  and  more  to  overtake  us.  In  missions,  to 
be  sure,  unbelief  does  not  follow  in  our  footsteps,  but  pray  how- 
can  we  continue  to  prosecute  missions,  unless  we  have  a 
well-defined  gospel  to  preach?  Or  is  it  possible  to  imagine 
anything  more  monstrous  than  so-called  liberal  missionaries 
preaching  only  humanity  and  colorless  piety  and  met  by 
the  pagan  sages  with  the  answer  that  the}-  themselves  in 
their  cultured  circles  have  never  taught  or  believed 
anything  else  than  just  this  modern  humanism. 

Does  perhaps  the  other  tendency,  the  mystical  one, 
possess  stronger  powers  of  defense?  What  thinker  or 
student  of  history  would  affirm  this?  No  doubt  mysticism 
eradiates  a  fervor  that  warms  the  heart  and  woe  betide  the 
giant  of  dogma  and  the  hero  of  action,  who  are  strangers 
to  its  depth  and  tenderness.  God  created  hand,  head  and 
heart,  the  hand  for  the  deed,  the  head  for  the  word,  the 
heart  for  mysticism.  King  in  deed,  prophet  in  profession, 
and  priest  in  heart,  shall  man  in  his  threefold  office  stand 
before  God,  and  a  Christianity  that  neglects  the  mystic 
element  grows  frigid  and  congeals.  We  are  therefore  to 
be  accounted  fortunate  whenever  a  mystic  atmosphere 
envelopes    us,    making  us  breathe  the  balmy  air  of  spring 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  22 


Through  it  life  is  made  truer,  deeper,  and  richer.  But  it 
would  be  a  sad  mistake  to  suppose  that  mysticism,  taken 
by  itself,  can  bring  about  a  reversal  in  the  spirit  of  the 
age.  Not  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  but  Thomas  of  Aquino, 
not  Thomas  a  Kempis  but  Luther  have  ruled  the  spirits 
of  men.  Mysticism  is,  in  its  very  nature,  seclusive,  and 
strives  rather  to  avoid  contact  with  the  outside  world. 
Its  very  strength  lies  in  the  indifferentiated  life  of  the  soul 
and  on  this  account  it  cannot  take  a  positive  stand.  It 
flows  along  a  subterranean  bed  and  does  not  show  sharply 
demarcated  lines  above  ground.  What  is  worse,  history 
proves  that  all  one-sided  mysticism  has  always'  become 
morbid  and  has  ultimately  degenerated  into  a  mysticism 
of  the  flesh  astounding  the  world  with  its  infamy. 

Accordingly,  although  I  rejoice  in  the  revival  of  both 
the  practical  and  mystical  tendencies,  both  will  result  in 
loss  instead  of  gain  if  they  are  expected  to  compensate 
for  the  abandonment  of  the  Bible  and  the  confession. 
Mysticism  is  sweet  and  Christian  works  are  precious,  but 
the  seed  of  the  church,  both  at  the  birth  of  Christianity 
and  in  the  age  of  the  Reformation  has  been  the  blood  of 
martyrs,  and  our  sainted  martyrs  shed  their  blood  not  for 
mysticism  and  not  for  philanthropic  projects  but  for  the  sake 
of  convictions  such  as  concerned  the  acceptance  of  the 
truth  and  the  rejection  of  error.  To  live  with  consciousness 
is  our  well-nigh  divine  prerogative,  and  only  from  the 
clear  unobscured  vision  of  consciousness  proceeds  the  mighty 
word  that  can  make  the  times  reverse  their  current,  and 
cause  a  revolution  in  the  spirit  of  the  world.  It  is  self- 
deception,  therefore,  and  only  self-deception,  when  these 
practical  and  mystical  Christians  believe  they  can  do 
without  a  Christian  life  and  world-view  of  their  own. 
No  one  can  do  without  that.  Every  one  who  thinks  he 
can  abandon  the  Christian  dogma  and  do  away  with  the 
Catechism  of  the  Reformation,  lends  ear  unawares  to  the 
hypotheses  of  the  modern  world-view  and  without  knowing 


CALVINISM   AND    THE   FUTURE.  23 

bow    far    lie    has   drifted,   swears  by  the  Catechism  of  the 
Zeitgeist. 

Therefore  let  us  not  stop  half-way.  As  truly  as  every 
plant  has  a  root,  so  truly  does  a  principle  hide  under  every 
manifestation  of  life.  These  principles  are  interconnected  and 
have  their  common  root  in  a  fundamental  principle,  and 
from  the  latter  is  developed  logical^  and  systematically 
the  whole  complex  of  ruling  ideas  and  conceptions  that  go  to 
make  up  our  life  and  world-view  With  such  a  coherent 
world  and  life- view,  firmly  resting  on  its  principle  and 
self-consistent  in ,  its  splendid  structure,  modernism  now 
confronts  Christianity  and  against  this  deadly  danger,  ye, 
Christians,  cannot  successfully  defend  your  Sanctuary,  but 
by  placing,  in  opposition  to  all  this,  a  life  and  world-view 
of  your  own,  founded  as  firmly  on  the  base  of  your  own 
principle,  wrought  out  with  the  same  clearness  and  glittering 
in  an  equally  logical  consistency.  Now  this  is  not 
obtained  by  either  Christian  works  or  mysticism,  but  only 
by  going  back,  our  hearts  full  of  mystical  warmth  and  our 
personal  faith  manifesting  itself  in  abundant  fruit,  to  that 
turning-point  in  history  and  in  the  development  of 
humanity  which  was  reached  in  the  Reformation.  And 
this  is  equivalent  to  a  return  to  Calvinism.  There  is 
no  choice  here.  Socinianism  died  an  inglorious  death; 
Anabaptism  perished  in  wild  revolutionary  orgies;  Luther 
never  worked  out  his  fundamental  thought;  and  Protestantism 
taken  in  a  general  sense,  without  further  differentiation, 
is  either  a  purely  negative  conception  without  content,  or 
a  chameleon-like  name  which  the  deniers  of  the  God-man 
like  to  adopt  as  their  shield.  Only  of  Calvinism  can  it 
lie  said  that  it  has  consistently  and  logically  followed  out 
the  lines  of  the  Reformation,  has  established  churches  and 
States,  has  set  its  stamp  upon  social  and  public  life,  and 
has  thus,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  created  for  the 
whole  life  of  man  a  world  of  thought  entirely  its  own.  It 
follows    therefore   that   we    are    placed    before  a  trilemma 


CALVINISM    AND    THE   FUTURE.  24 

compelling  us  either  to  let  ourselves  be  carried  along  by 
modernism,  which  means  the  doom  of  Christianity :  or 
to  construct  a  world-view  of  our  own  such  as  shall  tran- 
scend Calvinism,  a  task  thus  far  attempted  by  no  one;  or 
finally  to  bring  to  light  again  the  half  forgotten  funda- 
mental lines  of  Calvinism  and  extend  these  in  accordance 
with  the  demands  of  our  present  so  much  more  richly 
developed  life. 

I  feel  convinced  that,  after  what  I  have  said  in  my 
Lectures,  no  one  will  accuse  me  of  underrating  Lutheranism ; 
yet  the  present  emperor  of  Germany  has  no  less  than  three 
times  furnished  an  example  of  the  evil  after-effect  of  Luther's 
apparently  slight  mistakes.  Luther  was  misled  into  recog- 
nizing the  sovereign  of  the  land  as  the  head  of  the 
established  church  and  what  have  we  as  a  result  of  this 
been  called  upon  to  witness  from  Germany's  eccentric 
emperor?  First  of  all  that  Stocker,  the  champion  of  Christian 
democracy,  was  dismissed  from  his  court,  merely  because 
this  bold  defender  of  the  freedom  of  the  churches  had  so 
much  as  expressed  the  wish  that  the  emperor  should  abdicate 
his  chief  episcopate.  Next  that,  at  the  sailing  of  the  German 
squadron  for  China,  Prince  Henry  of  Russia  was  instructed 
to  carry  to  the  far  Orient  not  the  "Christian"  but  the 
"imperial  gospel".  And  more  recently  that  he  called  upon 
his  loyal  subjects  to  be  faithful  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties,  urging  as  a  motive  that  after  death  they  were  to 
appear  before  God ....  and  His  Christ? ....  No ;  but .... 
before  God  ....  and  I  lie  great  emperor.  Ever  bolder  encroach- 
ment, it  will  be  noticed,  of  Caesarism  upon  the  essence  of 
the  Christian  religion.  These  as  you  see,  are  far  from  mere 
trifles,  rather  they  touch  principles  of  world-wide  application, 
for  which  oar  forefathers  in  the  age  of  the  Reformation 
fought  their  great  battles.  To  repristination  I  am  as 
averse  as  any  man,  but  in  order  to  place  for  the  defense 
of  Christianity,  principle  over  against  principle,  and  world- 
view    over  against  world-view,  there  lies  at  hand,  for  him 


CALVINISM   AND    THE   FUTURE.  25 

who  is  a  Protestant  in  bone  and  marrow,  only  the  Calvin- 
istic  principle  as  the  sole  trustworthy  foundation  on 
which  to  build. 


What  then  are  we  to  understand  by  this  return  to 
Calvinism?  Do  I  mean  that  all  believing  Protestants 
should  subscribe  the  sooner  the  better  to  the  Reformed 
symbols  and  thus  all  ecclesiastical  multiformity  be  swallowed 
up  in  the  unity  of  the  Reformed  church-organisation?  I  am 
far  from  cherishing  so  crude,  so  ignorant,  so  unhistorical  a 
desire.  As  a  matter  of  course,  there  is  inherent  in  every 
conviction,  in  every  confession,  a  motive  for  absolute  and 
unconditional  propagandism,  and  the  word  of  Paul  to 
Agrippa :  '"I  would  to  God  that  with  little  or  with  much, 
n«  it  you  only,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day.  might 
become  such  as  I  am"  must  remain  the  heart-felt  wish 
not  only  of  every  good  Calvinist,  but  of  every  one  who  may 
glory  in  a  firm  immovable  conviction.  But  so  ideal  a  desire 
of  the  human  heart  can  never  be  realized,  in  this  our  dis- 
pensation. First  of  all,  not  one  Reformed  Standard,  not 
even  the  purest,  is  infallible  as  was  the  word  of  Paul. 
Then  again  the  Calvinistic  confession  is  so  deeply  religious, 
SO  highlv  spiritual,  that,  excepting  always  periods  of  profound 
religious  commotion,  it  will  never  be  realized  by  the  large 
masses  but  will  impress  with  a  sense  of  it>  inevitability 
only  a  relatively  small  circle.  Furthermore  our  inborn 
onesidedness  will  always  necessarily  lead  to  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  church  of  Christ  in  many  forms.  And,  last  not 
least,  absorption  on  a  large  scale  by  one  church  of  the 
members  of  another  can  only  take  place  at  critical  moments 
in  history.  In  the  ordinary  run  of  things  ninety  per  cent 
of  the  Christian  population  die  in  the  church  in  which 
they  were  born  and  baptized.  Besides,  such  an  identification 
of  my  program  with  the  absorption  of  one  church  by  another 
would  be  at  variance  with  the  whole  tendency  of  my  argument. 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTL'RE.  26 


Not  ecclesiastically,  confined  to  a  narrow  circle,  but  as  a 
phenomenon  of  universal  significance  have  I  commended  to 
you  the  Calvinism  of  history.  Therefore  what  I  ask  may 
in  the  main  be  reduced  to  the  following  four  points:  1. 
that  Calvinism  shall  no  longer  be  ignored  where  it  still 
exists,  but  rather  be  retraced  where  the  after  effects  of  its 
influence  are  still  manifest;  2.  that  Calvinism  shall  again 
be  made  a  subject  of  study  in  order  that  the  outside  world 
may  cease  to  misrepresent  it :  3.  that  its  principles  shall 
again  be  consistently  applied  not  only  to  Theology,  but 
to  every  department  of  life ;  4.  that  the  churches  which 
still  lay  claim  to  confessing  it,  shall  cease  being  ashamed 
of  their  confession. 

First  then,  Calvinism  should  no  longer  be  ignored  where 
it  still  exists  but  rather  be  retraced  where  traces  of 
its  historical  influence  are  still  manifest.  A  pointing  out, 
in  detail,  with  even  some  degree  of  completeness,  of  the 
traces  that  Calvinism  has  everywhere  left  behind  in  social 
and  political,  in  scientific  and  esthetic  life,  would  in  itself 
demand  a  broader  study  than  could  be  thought  of  in  the 
rapid  course  of  a  single  lecture.  Allow  me  therefore, 
addressing  an  American  audience,  to  point  out  a  single 
feature  in  your  own  political  life.  I  have  already  observed 
in  my  third  lecture  how  in  the  preamble  of  more  than 
one  of  your  constitutions,  while  taking  a  decidedly  demo- 
cratic view,  nevertheless  not  the  atheistic  standpoint  of 
the  French  revolution,  but  the  Calvinistic  confession  of  the 
supreme  sovereignty  of  God,  has  been  made  the  founda- 
tion, at  times  even  in  terms,  as  I  have  pointed  out, 
corresponding  literally  with  the  words  of  Calvin.  Not 
a  trace  is  to  be  found  among  you  of  that  anti-clericalism 
which  has  become  identified  with  the  very  essence  of 
the  revolutionary  democracy,  in  France  and  elsewhere, 
and  when  your  President  proclaims  a  national  day  of 
thanksgiving  or  when  the  houses  of  Congress  assembled  in 
Washington  are  opened  with  prayer,  it  is  ever  new  evidence 


CALVINISM   AND    THE   PUTUEE.  27 

that  through  American  democracy  there  runs  even  yet  a 
vein,  which,  having  sprung  from  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  still 
exerts  its  power  at  the  present  day.  Even  your  common- 
school  system,  blessed  with  reading  of  scripture  and  opening 
prayer,  points,  though  with  decreasing  distinctness,  to  like 
Calvinistic  origin.  Similarly  in  the  rise  of  your  university 
education,  springing  for  the  larger  part  from  individual 
initiative ;  in  the  decentralized  and  autonomous  character 
of  your  local  governments ;  in  your  strict  and  yet  not 
nomistic  Sabbath-observance ;  in  the  esteem  in  which  woman 
is  held  among  you,  without  falling  into  the  Parisian  deific- 
ation of  her  sex;  in  your  sense  for  domesticity;  in  the 
closeness  of  your  family  ties;  in  your  championship  of  free 
speech  and  in  your  unlimited  regard  for  freedom  of  con- 
science; in  all  this  your  Christian  democracy  is  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  democracy  of  the  French  revolution:  and 
historically  also  it  is  demonstrable  that  you  owe  this  to 
Calvinism.  But  lo  and  behold,  while  you  are  thus  enjoying 
the  fruits  of  Calvinism,  and  while  even  outside  of  your 
borders  the  constitutional  system  of  government  upholds  the 
national  honor,  it  is  whispered  abroad  that  all  these  are  to 
be  accounted  blessings  of  Humanism,  and  scarcely  any  one 
still  thinks  of  honoring  in  them  the  after  effect  of  <  'al- 
vinism.  the  latter  being  believed  to  lead  a  lingering  life 
only  in  a  few  dogmatically  petrified  circles.  What  I  demand 
then,  and  demand  with  an  historic  right,  is  that  this 
ungrateful  ignoring  of  Calvinism  shall  come  to  an  end ; 
that  the  influence  it  has  exerted  shall  again  receive  attention 
where  it  still  remains  stamped  upon  the  actual  life  of  to- 
day ;  and  that,  where  men  of  a  wholly  different  spirit 
would  unobservedly  divert  the  current  of  life  into  French- 
revolutionary  or  German-pantheistic  channels,  you  on 
this  side  of  the  water,  and  we  on  our  side,  should  oppose 
with  might  and  main  such  falsification  of  the  historic 
principles  of  our  life. 

That   we    may    be   enabled   to   do  so,   I   contend  in   the 


CALVINISM   AND   THE   FUTURE.  28 


second  place  for  an  historical  study  of  the  principles  of 
Calvinism.  No  love  without  knowledge,  and  Calvinism  has 
lost  its  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  It  is  being 
advocated  only  from  a  theological  point  of  view,  and  even 
then  very  one-sidedly  and  merely  as  a  side-issue.  The  cause  of 
this  I  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  lecture.  Since  Cal- 
vinism arose,  not  from  an  abstract  system,  but  from  life  itself, 
it  never  was  in  the  century  of  its  prime  presented  as  a 
systematic  whole.  The  tree  blossomed  and  yielded  its 
fruit  but  without  any  one  having  made  a  botanic  study  of  its 
nature  and  growth.  Calvinism,  in  its  rise,  rather  acted 
than  argued.  But  now  this  study  may  no  longer  be 
delayed.  Both  the  biography  and  biology  of  Calvinism 
must  now  be  thoroughly  investigated  and  thought  out,  or, 
with  our  lack  of  self-knowledge,  we  shall,  nolens  volens,  be 
side-tracked  into  a  world  of  ideas  that  is  more  at  discord 
than  in  consonance  with  the  lite  of  our  Christian  democracy, 
and  cut  loose  from  the  root  on  which  we  once  blossomed 
so  vigorously. 

Only  through  such  study  will  become  possible  what  I 
named  in  the  third  place:  the  application  of  the  principles 
of  Calvinism  to  every  department  of  life  by  choosing  its 
special  principle  as  the  point  of  departure  for  all  branches  of 
science.  I  do  not  exclude  theology  from  this,  for  theology  too 
exercises  its  influence  upon  life  in  all  its  ramifications,  and 
it  is,  therefore,  sad  to  see  how  even  the  theology  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  has  in  so  many  a  country  come  under 
the  sway  of  wholly  foreign  systems.  But,  at  all  events, 
theology  is  only  one  of  the  many  sciences  that  demand 
Calvinistic  treatment.  Jurisprudence,  the  social  sciences, 
philosophy,  literature,  psychology,  aesthetics,  and  even 
the  medical  and  natural  sciences,  each  and  all  of  these, 
when  philosophically  conceived,  go  back  to  principles,  and 
of  need  in  our  circles  the  question  must  be  put  with 
much  more  penetrating  seriousness  than  hitherto,  whether 
the    ontological   and    anthropological    principles    that  reign 


CALVINISM   AND   THE   FUTURE.  29 


supreme  in  the  present  method  of  these  sciences  are  in 
agreement  with  the  principles  of -Calvinism  or  are  at 
variance  with  their  very  essence. 

Finally  I  would  add  to  these  three  demands,  historically 
justified  as  it  seems  to  me,  still  a  fourth,  that  those  churches 
which  yet  lay  claim  to  professing  the  Reformed  faith,  shall 
cease  being  ashamed  of  this  confession.  You  have  heard  how 
broad  my  conception  and  how  wide  my  views  are,  even  in  the 
matter  of  ecclesiastical  life.  In  free  development  only  do  I  see 
the  salvation  of  this  Church-life.  I  exalt  multiformity  and  hail 
in  it  a  higher  stage  of  development.  Even  for  the  church 
that  has  the  purest  confession,  I  would  not  dispense  with 
the  aid  of  other  churches  in  order  that  its  inevitable  one- 
sidedness  may  thus  be  complemented.  But  what  has  always 
filled  me  with  wrath  and  indignation  was  to  behold  a  church 
or  to  meet  the  office-bearer  of  a  church,  with  the  flag 
furled  or  hidden  under  the  garb  of  office,  instead  of  being 
thrown  out  boldly  to  display  its  glorious  colours  in  the 
breeze.  What  one  confesses  to  lie  the  truth,  one  must  also 
dare  to  practise  in  word,  deed  and  whole  manner  of  life. 
A  church  Calvinistic  in  origin  and  still  recognizable  by 
its  Calvinistic  confession,  which  lacks  the  courage,  nay 
rather  which  no  longer  feels  the  impulse  to  defend  that 
confession  boldly  and  bravely  against  all  the  world,  such  a 
church  dishonors  not  Calvinism  but  itself.  Albeit  the  churches 
Reformed  in  bone  and  marrow  may  be  small  and  few  in 
numbers,  as  churches  they  will  always  prove  indispensable 
for  Calvinism,  and  here  also  the  smallness  of  the  seed  need 
not  disturb  us,  if  only  that  seed  be  sound  and  whole, 
instinct  with  generative  and  irrepressible  life. 


And  thus  my  last  lecture  is  rapidly  drawing  to  its  end. 
But  before  I  close,  I  feel  nevertheless  that  one  question 
continues  to  press  for  an  answer,  which  accordingly  I  shall 
not   refuse    to    face,    the    question    namely,    at  what  I  am 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  30 


aiming  in  the  end:  at  the  abandonment  or  at  the  mainte- 
nance   of  the  doctrine  of  election.  Thereunto   allow  me  to 
contrast    with  this  word  election  another  word  that  differs 
from    it    in    but    a    single    letter.     Our  generation  turns  a 
deaf   ear    to    Election,    but    grows    madly  enthusiastic  over 
Selection.   How  may  we  formulate  the  tremendous  problem 
that    lies    hidden    behind    these   two    words,   and   in  what 
particular   do  the  solutions  of  this  problem,  as  represented 
by    these     two,    almost    identical   formula's,    differ?     The 
problem    concerns   the   fundamental  question:    Whence  are 
the  differences?    Why  is  not  all  alike?    Whence  is  it  that 
one  thing   exists    in  one  state  another  in  another?     There 
is  mi  life  without  differentiation,  and  no  differentiation  without 
inequality.    The  perception  of  difference  is  the  very  source 
of  human  consciousness,    the  causative  principle  of  all  that 
exists  and  grows  and  develops,  in  short  the  mainspring  of 
all  life    and  thought.     I  am  therefore  justified  in  asserting 
that    in    the    end   every  other  problem  may  be  reduced  to 
this  one  problem  :    Whence  are  those  differences  ?   Whence 
is  the  dissimilarity,  the  heterogeneity  of  existence,  of  genesis, 
of   consciousness?     To    put    it    concretely,    if   a    plant    yon 
would    rather    be  rose  than  mushroom;  if  insect,  butterfly 
lather   than   spider;    if  bird,  eagle  rather  than  owl;    if   a 
higher  vertebrate,  lion  rather  than  hyena .;  and  again,  being 
man,    rich    rather    than    poor,    talented    rather    than    dull- 
minded,  of  the  Aryan  race  rather  than  Hottentot  or  Kaffer. 
Between    all    these    there    is   differentiation,  wide  differen- 
tiation.    And  I  may  add  that  many  a  one  of  our  race,  in 
his  presumptious  audacity,  has  aimed  still  higher.— has  desired 
to  be  God,— and  behold  he  was  and  remained  man.  Everywhere 
then   differences,    differences  between    the    one    being    and 
the  other,  and  that  too  such  differences  as  involve  in  almost 
every   instance,    preference.     When    the    hawk    rends    and 
tears    the    dove,    whence    is    it   that    these    two    creatures 
are  thus  opposed  to,  and   different  from  each  other?     This 
is    the   one  supreme  question  in  the  vegetable  and  animal 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  31 


kingdom,  among  men,  in  all  social  life,  and  it  is  by  means 
of  the  theory  of  Selection  that  our  present  age  attempts  to 
solve  this  problem  of  problems.  Even  in  the  single  cell  it 
posits  differences,  weaker  and  stronger  elements.  The 
stronger  overcomes  the  weaker  and  the  gain  is  stored  up 
in  a  higher  potency  of  being,  or,  should  the  weaker  still 
maintain  its  subsistence,  the  difference  will  be  manifest  in 
the  further  course  of  the  struggle  itself. 

Now  the  blade  of  grass  is  not  conscious  of  this,  and  the 
spider  goes  on  entrapping  the  fly,  the  tiger  killing  the  stag, 
and  in  those  cases  the  weaker  being  does  not  account  to  itself 
for  its  misery.    But  we  men  are  clearly  conscious  of  these 
differences    and    by   us    therefore    the    question    cannot  be 
evaded,    whether     the    theory    of    Selection  be  a  solution 
calculated  to  conciliate  the  weaker,  the  less  richly  endowed 
creature  with   its  existence.     It  will  be  acknowledged  that 
in    itself   this    theory    can  but    incite    to    a    more    furious 
struggle,  with  a  lasciate  andare  ogni  speranzaior  the  weaker 
being.    Against  the  ordinance  of  fate  that  the  weaker  shall 
succumb  to  the  stronger,  no  struggle  can  avail.  The  recon- 
ciliation, not  springing  from  the  facts,  would  therefore  have 
to  spring  from  the  idea.  But  what  is  here    the  idea  I  Is  it 
not   this,   that,    where  these  differences  have  once  become 
established,  and  highly  differentiated  beings  appear,  this  is 
either  the  result  of  chance,  or  else  the  necessary  consequence 
of  blind  natural  forces  ?  Now,  are  we  to  believe  that  suffering 
humanity  will  ever  become  reconciled  to  its  suffering  by  such 
a  solution?    Nevertheless    I    welcome    the   progress  of  this 
theory  of  Selection  and  I  admire  the  penetration  and  power 
of  thought  of  the  men  who  commend  it  to  us.    Not.  forsooth, 
on  account  of  what  it  urges  upon  us  as  a  truth,  but  because 
if   has   mustered    courage    to    attack    once   more  the  most 
fundamental  of  all  problems,  and  thusin  point  of  profundity 
stands  on  a  level  with  Calvinism. 

For  this  is  precisely  the  high  significance  of  the  doctrine 
of  Election  that,  in  this  dogma,  as  long  as  three  centuries 


CALVINISM    AND    THE    FUTURE.  32 

ago,  Calvinism  dared  to  face  this  same  all-dominating 
problem,  solving  it,  however,  not  in  the  sense  of  a  blind 
selection  stirring  in  unconscious  cells,  but  honouring  the 
sovereign  choice  of  Him  Who  created  all  things  visible 
and  invisible.  The  determination  of  the  existence  of  all 
things  to  be  created,  of  what  is  to  be  camellia  or  buttercup, 
nightingale  or  crow,  hart  or  swine,  and,  equally  among 
men,  the  determination  of  our  own  persons,  whether  one 
is  to  be  born  as  girl  or  boy,  rich  or  poor,  dull  or  clever, 
or  even  as  Abel  or  Cain,  is  the  most  tremendous  predesti- 
nation conceivable  in  heaven  or  on  earth,  and  still  we  see 
it  taking  place  before  our  eyes  every  day,  and  we  ourselves 
are  subject  to  it  in  our  entire  personality,  and  our  entire 
existence,  our  very  nature,  our  position  in  life  being  entirely 
dependent  on  it.  This  all-embracing  predestination,  the 
Calvinist  places,  not  in  the  hand  of  man,  and  still  less  in 
the  hand  of  a  blind  natural  force,  but  in  the  hand  of 
Almighty  God,  Sovereign  Creator  and  Possessor  of  heaven 
and  earth;  and  it  is  in  the  figure  of  the  potter  and  the 
clav  that  Scripture  has  from  the  time  of  the  Prophets 
expounded  to  us  this  all-dominating  election.  Election  in 
creation,  election  in  providence,  and  so  election  also  to 
eternal  life;  election  in  the  realm  of  grace  as  well  as  in 
the  realm  of  nature.  Now,  when  we  compare  these  two 
systems  of  Selection  and  Election,  does  not  history  show 
that  the  doctrine  of  Election  has  century  upon  century, 
restored  peace  and  reconciliation  to  the  hearts  of  the  believing 
sufferer,  and  that  all  Christians  hold  election  as  we  do,  in 
honor,  both  in  creation  and  in  providence;  and  that  Calvinism 
deviates  from  the  other  Christian  confessions  in  this  respect 
only,  that,  grasping  unity  and  placing  the  glory  of  <4od 
above  all  things,  it  dares  to  extend  the  mystery  of  election 
to  spiritual  life,  and  to  the  hope  for  the  life  to  come. 

This  then  is  what  Calvinistic  dogmatic  narrowness  amounts 
to.  Or  rather,  for  the  times  are  too  serious  for  irony  or 
jest,    let    every    Christian,    who    cannot    yet    abandon    his 


CALVINISM   AND   THE   FUTURE.  33 

objections,  at  least  put  this  all-important  question  to  him- 
self: Do  and  know  of  another  solution  of  this  fundamental 
world-problem  enabling  me  better  to  defend  my  Christian 
faith,  in  this  hour  of  sharpest  conflict,  against  renewed 
Paganism  collecting  its  forces  and  gaining  day  by  day.  Do 
not  forget  that  the  fundamental  contrast  has  always  been, 
is  still,  and  will  be  until  the  end :  Christianity  and  pagan- 
ism, the  idols  or  the  living  God.  So  far  there  is  a  deeply 
felt  truth  in  the  drastic  picture  drawn  by  the  German 
emperor,  representing  Buddhism  as  the  coming  enemy.  A 
closely  drawn  curtain  hides  the  future,  but  Christ  has 
prophesied  to  us  on  Patmos  the  approach  of  a  last  and 
bloody  conflict,  and  even  now  Japan's  gigantic  development 
in  less  than  forty  years  has  tilled  Europe  with  fear  for 
what  calamity  might  be  in  store  for  us  from  the  cunning 
"yellow  race"  forming  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  human 
family.  And  did  not  Gordon  testify  that  his  Chinese 
soldiers,  with  whom  be  defeated  the  Taipings,  if  only  well 
drilled  and  officered,  made  the  most  splendid  soldiers  he 
ever  commanded?  The  Asiatic  question  is  in  fact  of  most- 
serious  import.  The  problem  of  the  world  took  its  rise  in 
Asia  and  in  Asia  it  will  find  its  final  solution;  and,  both 
in  technical  and  material  development,  the  issue  has  shown 
that  heathen  nations,  as  .soon  as  they  awake,  and  arise 
from  their  lethargy,  rival  us  almost  instantly. 

Of  course  this  danger  would  be  far  less  menacing  in 
case  Christendom,  in  both  the  old  and  the  new  world,  stood 
united  around  the  Cross,  shouting  songs  of  praise  to 
their  King  and  Savior,  and  ready  as  in  the  days  of  the 
crusades  to  advance  to  the  final  conflict.  But  how  when 
pagan  thought,  pagan  aspirations,  pagan  ideals  are  gaining 
ground  even  among  us  and  penetrating  the  very  vitals  of 
the  rising  generation?  Have  not  the  Armenians,  just  because 
the  conception  of  Christian  solidarity  has  become  so  sadly 
weakened,  been  basely  and  cowardly  abandoned  to  the  fate 
of   assassination?     Has    not    the    Greek    been    crushed    by 


CALVINISM    AND    THE   FUTURE.  34 


the  Turk,  while  Gladstone,  the  Christian  statesman,  politic- 
ally a  Calvinist  to  the  very  core,  who  had  the  courage  to 
brand  the  Sultan  "Great  Assassin",  has  departed  from  among 
us1?  Accordingly  radical  determination  must  be  insisted  upon. 
Half-measures  cannotguarantee  the  desired  result.  Superficiality 
will  not  brace  us  for  the  conflict.  Principle  must  again  bear  wit- 
ness against  principle,  world-view  against  world-view  spirit 
against  spirit.  And  here,  let  him  who  knows  better  speak,  but  I 
for  one  know  of  no  stronger  and  no  firmer  bulwark  than  Calvin- 
ism, provided  it  be  taken  in  if  s  sound  and  vigorous  formation. 
And    if   you    retort,    half    mockingly,    am  I  really  naive 
enough  to  expect  from  certain  Calvinistic  studies  a  reversal 
in  the  Christian  world-view,  then  be  the  following  my  answer  : 
the    quickening    of   life    comes    not    from    men,    it    is  the 
prerogative    of  God,    and   if    is   due   to  His  sovereign  will 
alone,  if  the  tide  of  religious  life  rise  high  in  one  century, 
and    run    to   a  low  ebb  in  the  next.     In  the  moral  world, 
too.  we  have  at  one  time,  spring,  when  all  is  budding  and 
rustling  with  life,  and  again,  the  cold  of  winter,  when  every 
vital  stream  congeals,  and  all  religious  energy  is  petrified. 
Now   the   period    in    which    we  are  living  at  present,  is 
surely  at  a  low  ebb  religiously,  and  lacks  the  heroic  spark. 
Unless  Cod  send  forth  his  spirit,  there  will  be  no  turn,  and 
fearfully  rapid  will  be  the  descent  of  the  waters.    But  you 
remember    the    Aeolian    Harp,    which    men    were  wont  to 
place    outside  their  casement,  that  the  breeze  might  wake 
its  music  into  life.  Until  the  wind  blew,  the  harp  remained 
silent,    while,    on    the    other  hand,  even  though  the  wind 
arose,    if  the    harp    did    not  lie  in  readiness,  a  rustling  of 
the  breeze  might  be  heard,  but  not  a  single  note  of  etherial 
music  delighted  the  ear.  Now,  let  Calvinism  be  nothing  but  such 
an  Aeolian  Harp,— absolutely  powerless,  as  it  is,  without  the 
quickening  spirit  of  God,  still  we  feel  it  our  God-given  duty  to 
keep  our  harp,  its  strings  tuned  aright,  ready  in  the  window 
of  God's  Holy  Sion,  awaiting  the  breath  of  the  Spirit. 


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